Through Countless Floors
by williamwizard100
Summary: Shino and Kazuto become close friends after a series of unfortunate event. After hearing Kazuto talk about games so much she decided to sign up for a beta test with him. Even if they don't get to beta test it, they'll play it, together. Tag along as they become stuck in the death game 'Sword Art Online, and are forced to clear every floor.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 **A/N: This story is my very first long term project. I am still relatively new to writing in a fictional format, so i ask that you bear with the mistakes that I will make. Some of my errors might include: A bad story, bad punctuation, bad grammar, falling in and out POV, etc. With that in mind, I do in fact encourage you to call me out on any and all mistakes that I make. I also encourage questions, comments, request, recommendations and criticism.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Sword Art Online, or any of its characters. It's owned by Reki Kawahara… that's it… nothing more to it.**

Shino's POV.

I sit there in class, the last class of the day, counting the seconds until the school day will end. I wasn't even paying attention to the lecture that was taking place in the class, I just couldn't wait to be out of here. It's not because I have some place to be, or that I have someone to meet, no. I don't have anything exciting to look forward to, in fact, just the opposite. I want to get home because Endou, the school bully, and her lackeys have been picking on me. Not that that in itself is unusual. I often find myself to be the victim of her exploitation, and ridicule.

As the hands of the clock crawled toward the numbers that would symbolize the end of the school day, I began to get more and more anxious. _Will I be able to avoid Endou today?_ I thought. I let my mind wander to a place it was all too familiar with: avoiding Endou. I was so immersed in thought that I hadn't noticed that the professor's lecture had ceased, or that he had called my name.

"Miss Asada, would you please tell me, under whose leadership, were the three hundred and sixty states of Germany were unified?" The professor asked.

His back was turned to the class, and he was writing on the whiteboard.

"Huh?" I stated rather dumbly.

"Would you mind telling the class and I," He started turning around to face the class, "Under whose leadership was Germany united under?" He finished.

Something told me that he knew that my mind had strayed away from the lecture, and that's why he called on me. As much as I loved professor Kawahara, he seems to have a knack for inconveniencing us. Lucky for me, I know enough about German history to answer his question.

"The three hundred sixty city states were united under Bismarck's leadership, sir." I answer with confidence.

He looked surprised, almost like he didn't expect me to know the answer to the question. That was to be expected. He did think that I wasn't paying attention after all. In all fairness, he was right. I had long since stopped listening to his lecture in favor of fueling my anxiety by watching the clock, and planning my escape route from Endou and her goons.

"Very good Asada, although, next time, do pay attention please.", He said knowingly.

My face grew hot from embarrassment. First, I was called on in class, which is not good for my social anxiety. Then I get called out on ignoring the lecture. Not only was it embarrassing, it is humiliating. It didn't help that all the students started snickering at the comment that Mr. Kawahara made. Although I'd rather them be laughing at me than pointing fingers and whispering. Something that I have become all too familiar with. I don't think that there's been a day of school where I haven't been subject to those actions.

"Yes sir. Sorry sir." I said shakily.

His stoic face did not, in any way help my situation. It made me more nervous than anything. I didn't have to suffer through it for long because mere seconds after I responded to him he looked down to his desk and began to shuffle around some papers.

"Alright class, I have an assignment for you.", he stated after seemingly getting the papers in order.

Choruses of complaints rang out. I'm sure the whole school could hear the classes statements of "No fair!", "Ahhh man!", and my personal favorite, "THIS SUCKS!". I found the classes protests almost humorous. Or I would have, if not for my ignorance of the lecture that the assignment is undoubtable over. If anything I should be the one complaining. I've had to deal with Endou's extra ridicule today, I'm going to have to find a way home that avoids her, and now an assignment that I don't have the knowledge to complete.

"Oh come now class. It's only fifteen questions," he started. "All the answers were in my lecture. If you were taking notes you should be fine." He finished.

With that Mr. Kawahara began to pass the papers out and the class silenced their complaints. Mr. Kawahara knew full and well that the majority of the class was not taking notes. I guess it was his way of teaching us to take notes. If we all do bad on an assignment because of our lack of notes, then he thinks that we will start to take them. No one in the class had ever learned from that though. We all obstinately kept to our pattern of listening exclusively. Only a few people in the class actually took notes, regardless of what Mr. Kawahara told us.

When he finally got to my desk with the assignment that I would most likey like, I was already packed to leave. All the supplies, homework, and books that I would need tonight crammed into my school bag. All I needed was the assignment that he was handing out, then I'd be ready to bolt out of the classroom as soon as the bell rang. If I rushed I may be able to get past the street where Endou waits for me, before she gets there. That was my general plan at least. That is, until Mr. Kawahara handed me the paper and said something.

"Could you see me after class please Asada?", He asked.

I was more than a little concerned but responded "Yes sir." just the same. It's not like I could have told him no anyway.

Now I have to visit him after class, and deal with Endou on the way home. Just great. It seems that this day just keeps getting worse and worse. As I sit there, wondering why these things happen to me, Mr. Kawahara returns to his desk and sits down.

"Alright, the rest of the class is a free period. Use this time to get a head start on your homework.", He stated, while reviewing some papers.

There was only about ten minutes left in the class period and the school day. That isn't near enough to finish all the homework we were assigned today. It could definitely knock out some of it though. So I took a few of my assignments out of my bag, and set to work.

By the time the ten minutes had passed I had completed my english, and chemistry assignments. That only left me with math and European history for when I get home. Now I just had make it through my meeting with Mr. Kawahara, then I can get out of this school and into the safety of my apartment.

I stayed seated in my chair, in the back of the classroom when the bell rang. All the student practically jumped from their chairs and ran to the classroom door, but I still remained seated. I had no reason to rush. My leaving would be delayed regardless of how fast I rushed.

As the last of the students filed out of the classroom, I began to stand, and walk to Mr. Kawahara's desk. Normally when a student is called in after class, it means that said student has done something wrong, and consequences are going to be issued. All I could do is hope that it wouldn't be a detention. I have never received a detention in my entire life, despite what everyone says about me. They say things like; delinquent; psycho; monster; and worst of all, murderer, but all but one of those things are not true. When I finally stood in front of his desk, he leaned back in his chair, and look at me with an enigmatic expression. I was starting to feel anxious again, and began to fidget.

"Asada," He started, "Are you alright? Is something bugging you? You seemed kind of distant today." He finished.

His enigmatic face had turned from something that I could not read, to one of genuine concern. It caught me off guard to say the least. The way he was acting prior to the question, in no way indicated concern, and yet here he was, asking if I was alright. Not a single student or faculty member had ever asked me that before. It's probably because of the rumors that follow me around, but if that were the case Mr. Kawahara would have heard them by now. Wouldn't he also try to avoid me at all costs? It was just so confusing.

"Asada?" He repeated

I realized that I had been standing there for an awkwardly long time, with no response to his question.

"No sir. Nothing's bothering me. Just tired is all." I stated while putting on the all too familiar false smile

"Are you sure? Is another student giving you trouble?" He continued his onslaught of questions.

Images of Endou, her goons, and some of the other students who, rather than avoid me, decide to harass me flash in my mind's eye.

"Yes sir, I'm sure." I say, all the while keeping up my mask of a smile.

He looked at me skeptically, as though he knew I was lying. Realistically speaking he probably did, but if I didn't tell him he couldn't do anything about it. It was definitely tempting to report Endou for her bullying, but if I did, I know that all the other bullies would just harass me more and more. On top of that Endou would most likely weasel her way out of the punishment and just start right back up on bullying me. Turning the bullies in was just not worth it in the long run.

"Alright," He conceded tiredly "But if any of the other students ever give you trouble, tell me about it." he add commandingly.

The tone in his voice had changed to quickly that I began to question if he was bipolar. He had gone from imposing, to concerned, to tired, to commanding, and then all the way back to concerned again. He is unbelievably hard to read.

"Of course sir. I will."

His eyes narrow. I think that he could tell that I was lying to him again. "Alright, you can go home now." he said once again slipping into his enigmatic self

"Thank you sir." I said as I turned around, bag on my shoulder, and head for the door.

"Oh, and Asada,"

I stopped in the door frame, waiting for him to say what he had to say.

"I don't care what the rumors say about you. I don't care if they are true or not. You're a good kid, regardless of what others say about you, or what has happened in the past. The future is all that matters, and for us, the future _is_ the moment that we are living." He stated rather plainly. Then he smile, "That being said, you are by far my favorite student."

His speech and compliment brought tears to my my eyes. Thank goodness I was facing away from him. The last person I wanted to see me cry was the only person that ever seemed to care. I don't want him to worry about me more than it seems he already does.

"Thank you sir." I manage to choke out before running off in the direction of the school's front gate.

It's not that I'm not glad that he cares. To the contrary, it make me feel elated, to know that anyone care. Even my mother seemed to stop caring after the incident those years ago. I never hear from her. Which is partially my fault. I never call her, but she never calls me either. It's like a double edged sword. It doesn't matter which way it swings someone is gonna get hurt.

Not once did I stop in my dead on sprint for the school gate. I ran as fast as I could until I reached my destination. Only then did I stop to rest, breath, and think. Thanks to that meeting, Endou is undoubtable already waiting for in the route I usually take. She has also probably been sitting there doing nothing for a little while, which means she is going to be a little more aggressive than usual. Add together that aggressiveness with how much she was bullying me earlier, and you have a recipe for disaster.

I stood there at the school gate pondering what to do. Option one, I could wait it out, and hope she goes home rather than waiting even longer. But the odds are she's really mad about having to wait as long as she has already and will want to take it out on someone. Option two, I could take a different route home, but the neighborhoods around here aren't the best and I risk the chance of running into another thug. Option three, take my usual route and deal with Endou, maybe even stand up to her.

Opting or option two, I started out on a different route. It would take me significantly longer to get home, and it would be getting dark soon, but I don't think that I can Handle Endou's torture today. I'd rather take my chances in the dark streets of Tokyo. Besides, there hasn't been any reports of criminal activity in the area for quite a while. That, and there are always police patrols driving around now. Overall, I think that I chose the best option available to me.

Avoiding Endou had cost me my trip to the market, which isn't really a big deal. It just meant that I was going to have to eat leftovers, not my usually home cooking. Normally I don't keep anything more than what I need in the fridge. So I find myself visiting the market almost every day. Unfortunately, the market was right around where Endou was sure to be camping, and the route I was taking now, mostly consisted of small businesses, and apartments, but sadly no markets.

As I walked further down the pavement, I started to feel suspicious of my surroundings. I felt as though I was being watched. The hair on my neck was standing on edge, and I was getting goosebumps. The only thing that kept me from panicking and breaking into a run was the warm and smooth light that remained from the sun. The comfort It offered allowed me to convince myself that It was all in my head, and that thoughts of Endou had set me on edge. With my mind set on that. I continued on my way.

Though it wasn't long after that, that I began to notice little things that didn't seem right. Almost no one was outside. I've seen only one other pedestrian in all the time I had been walking, I've seen no police patrols, and occasionally I'll hear a second set of footsteps behind me. I keep telling myself that it is my imagination, but it is so vivid. Once again I find myself scared witless, but I kept walking none the less. The footsteps only seem to solidify in my mind. In a panic I charged into the nearest alleyway in hopes of finding a shortcut home. The footsteps stop, but I don't, that is, until a silhouette appeared at the other end of the ally. I stopped in my tracks, and turned around. At the other end of the ally was another silhouette. I was trapped.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Alright, So I started typing this before I got feedback from the first chapter, so I don't know about any errors I may have made. Also I'd like to say; Thanks you to all those who read my story and are back for more.**

 **More story related is the following explanation to the plot. I know it seems kind of corny but we only perceive things as corny because they are the things that happen realistically. Often times the things that seem the most clich are the most realistic. Also any of the corny things in my story are there for a reason. I encourage you to read between the lines, and make some inferences, guesses, and, predictions. Although I refuse to reveal the course of the primary plot. That's all for now folks.**

Chapter 2

Asada's POV

I had backed myself in a corner, or more accurately an alley. I knew those footsteps weren't in my head, but I convinced myself that they were, all for the sake of feeling brave and confident. Thanks to my actions, I've wound up stuck in an alley with two people closing in from each side. Each and every step they took echoed through the alley, with resounding ominousness.

Panic started to take root within me, if it had not already. I don't know what these people want, nor do I have a way out. I can't run, and from the figures of these people it seems as though both were men, so fighting was probably out of the question as well

"Hey hot stuff,", the man who followed me into the alley jeered. "what's a girl like you doing in this part of town"

His speech seem slurred, almost as though he has been drinking too much, which me most likely has. His hair was a mess, almost like he didn't even bother doing anything with it after getting out of bed, and his shirt a plain black polo.

"Yeah,", the other man followed, "you never know what could happen in a neighborhood like this."

The second man's voice was far more clear and intelligible. In contrast to the seemingly drunk man, this one had hair that was slicked back with oil. One thing stood out however. He too wore a black shirt, but he also wore a black leather jacket. My eyes widened in shock and realization. _They are in a color gang!_ I thought. This is not good. Color gangs in Tokyo have a reputation. They pick out targets, and mug them, or…

I refused to even think of that happening to me. I would fight until I die, before letting that happen to me. Unfortunately it looks like that might be the case. They weren't stopping their advancement toward me, and they were fairly close now. If I didn't act fast then I would end up a victim for sure.

"Oh, well my house isn't far from here, so if you would just let me through…", I started, but never finished.

"Sorry, no can do sugar.", the man with the greased hair said. "We can't just let a hottie like you slip through our fingers."

His sporadic behavior caught me off guard. First he starts out by acting as the good citizen, with his "You never know what could happen…" line, seemingly trying to disguise his actions. Then he comes full circle and all but says what they are gonna do, no longer trying to cover up his actions in a false ruise.

They were practically on top of me now, within arm's reach at least. The messy haired assailant reached for me, and I dodged. He stumbled, and slurred out a string of curses that were near unintelligible. His blunder had given me the window I needed to escape. I went to break into a dead sprint toward the open end of the alley, only to be yanked back by the arm. The somber man had grabbed my arm, and pulled me to the ground. I started kicking and thrashing, hoping that he just might let go. I furthered my attempts by screaming, all the while, tears rolled down my face.

Nothing was working, he still had me pinned to the ground, and was on both knees with one on either side of me. I wasn't going to stop fight, so I took the position he had me in as the opening I needed. He pulled my hands over my head and held them there with one hand, while he moved his other to reach for my shirt. Choosing this time to strike, I brought my knee up with all the force I could muster, right between his legs. The loud noise my knee made as it connected with its target, and the face of pain and anguish he made were so satisfying.

"YOU BITCH!" He screamed in anger.

He raised his free hand and smacked my face. The impact of the blow left me dazed. In that daze, my mind wandered, what was the second man doing? I looked in his direction. He had a camera out and was filming this whole thing. The man on top of me started reaching for my shirt once again. I clamped my eyes closed, and let the tears flow freely. I waited for the thing that was sure to come next, but to my surprise, rather than what I expected, I hear the man's cries of agony once more _Did I do that?_ I thought to myself.

I could hear the man crying out in pain once again, and then another voice, the drunkard's voice cried out in pain as well. What was going on? I managed to open my eyes, despite my overpowering fear of what I might see. However, when I did, I was shocked. A boy, seemingly my age, with black hair nearly down to his eyes, was standing over both men, Kendo sword in hand. The drunkard's camera lie in pieces on the ground.

The two assailants both scrambled to their feet, and fled toward the opposite end of the alley. The boy, however did not chase them. Upon taking note of that, I noticed something else peculiar. This boy, the boy who saved me, was wearing my school uniform.

When the two runaways were out of sight, the boy lowered his bamboo sword, and turned toward me. This is the first time I've seen his face in the whole time he was beating on those gang member. I had to admit, he had some feminine qualities about his face, but at the same time he just seemed to give off an aura of masculinity.

"Are you alright?", the unidentified boy asked.

"Ya," I started out, my voice hoarse from the screaming. "Just shaken up mostly." I managed to finish

The boy looked at me in concern. As much as this day had sucked, I have to admit that, it has been full of firsts, too. First a teacher shows that they care, then a student shows concern. It thoroughly confused me. Mr. Kawahara at least offered an explanation to why he cared, but this boy, why would a student, who undoubtedly knows I'm a killer care at all?

"Come on," he said while carefully helping me up from my near fetal position on the ground. "I'll walk you the rest of the way home."

I didn't know what to say. I was touched that a peer of mine wanted to walk me home, but at the same time I was hesitant. He goes to my school, that much was obvious from the uniform that he wore. Other than that, I didn't know anything about him. He may have saved me, but I have no idea what kind of person he was.

"You're Asada Shino, right?" He asked.

Now standing once again, I hang my head "Yes." I answer rather shame facedly.

It made sense that he would know who I am. Rumors spread through our school faster than wildfire spreads through dry forest. In my mind this only further raised the question, why did he help me? If he knows about the rumors why wouldn't he just leave me. I half expecting him to run off when I answered, that or turn his kendo sword on me. To my surprise he did neither. Instead, he offered his hand.

"Nice to meet you Shino. I'm Kazuto. Kazuto Kirigaya." He say with a weak smile.

I recognized the name almost immediately. Kazuto Kirigaya is practically a legend in the school. Most days you couldn't go a day without hearing something about him. Whether it be about it amazing grades, or how cute he is, he is always the talk of the female student body. In fact they say that there is even a club full of fangirls that worship the ground that he walks on.

I have heard so much about him, and really wanted to meet him, but I never saw him. He is, after all a year older than I am. He's in his second year of middle school, whereas I'm in my first. So there were very few times that I ever would have had the chance to meet him.

"So where's your house?" He asked.

"Oh… it's an apartment about five kilometers north of the school." I responded, hesitantly.

I still didn't know if I trusted Kirigaya, but I was running out of options. It was nearly dark out, and I was afraid those guys would come back. I didn't want to be left alone on the streets after dark. Especially with what just happened.

"Woah," He said, eyes growing wide. "That's like a two hour walk from here. If that's where you were going, how'd you end up here?"

I was just as shocked as he was. I had no idea it was so far from here. I thought that I would be able to take a small detour, and get home only a little later. Somewhere along the line I must have made a wrong turn, besides, it's not like I know this area very well at all.

Kirigaya reached up to the back of his neck and started scratching it. Something he was thinking was making him nervous.

"Since it's already pretty dark out, why don't you come to my house? You're ruffed up and it's a long walk." It was more of a statement than a question, but he seemed really embarrassed.

I thought about it for a second, and decided what I'd do. If I tried to make it home, it would be incredibly late by the time I got there. I'd go to Kirigaya's house, and and his parents for a ride home. I'm still not really sure about Kirigaya, but It would be a lot faster to drive home than to walk.

Despite my confidence in my plan it was still very hard to accept his offer. I have not been to another person's house in so long that I'm not sure I'll behave the correct way, and if there was any chance that I could befriend Kirigaya, I didn't want to mess it up. On top of that I was still on edge from the occurrences of the alleyway.

"Ye… ye.. Yeah, sure. Thank you." I stuttered,

He looked relieved, almost as if he thought that I would say no. There was also something else in his expression. Like he was weirded out that someone was coming to his house. Or maybe he was just nervous? It would make sense that that he would be nervous at the thought of me in his house, if he has heard the rumors.

"Alright, well let's get going." He said bashfully. "My house is only about fifteen minutes from here." He said while grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the end of that alley that I had entered from.

I blushed a deep crimson. I wasn't use to someone grabbing my hand, or showing many kind gestures. I was mostly used to shoves, or jars from the bullies at school. It's not like I haven't ever held someone's hand before. I used to hold my mom's hand wherever we went, and I have shaken people's hands before, obviously. But something about this gesture was different, warm almost. I found myself actually enjoying Kirigaya holding my hand.

When we reached the pavement just outside the alley Kirigaya started to pull me in the direction I was walking prior to the alleyway escapade. He was pulling me along rather fast.

"Kirigaya? Why are we in such a rush?" I ask.

"Because, the sooner we get to my house the sooner we get to eat!" He said excitedly.

His mood changed so quickly that if it were possible it would have given his personality whiplash.

"You must really like food, huh?" I question.

"Yep," was his simply reply. "as long as it tastes good I'll eat anything."

"Really?"

"Yep!"

I was having trouble keeping up with him. I don't exercise much, so my cardio isn't that good. Also, if you have never tried running with someone pulling you along I have a word of advice; don't.

"Kirigaya," I yelled. "can we please slow down? I can't keep up with you."

He looked back at me, and as soon as he did, his excitement about the food faded, and was replaced by a look of shame. I think he felt sorry for pulling me along that quickly. The moment that his shame began to show he slowed down

"Yeah, sure thing. Sorry for pulling you around like that. I guess I just got carried away." He said while bringing his free hand up to scratch the back of his neck, in what I could only assume is a nervous tick.

"It's fine." I assured him "I was just really getting tired. I'm not the most physically fit."

"Well, I think that we are close enough to take a leisurely walk the rest of the way." He stated.

I was starting to feel a sort of admiration for the boy in front of me. He helped me, regardless of who I was, or what he may have heard about me, he offered for me to come into his home, was offering me dinner, and was considerate (kind of). I mean he did drag me around for a good three minutes, but when he finally realized it, he was considerate enough to take the rest of the walk in leisure. He was obviously a nice boy, and the rumors were right, he is hot.

My face flushes once again. _Where did that come from?_ I pondered. It's not like I had ever seen him until today, or that I ever really paid any mind to gossip. Although, I'm not wrong.

We once again started in the direction of his house. After our short marathon, he had let go of my hand. The loss of contact came as both a relief, and a disappointment. On one hand It was making me a little anxious, but on the other it was so warm and it gave me a wonderful feeling deep in the pit of my stomach.

"You see that house over there?" Kirigaya asked out of the blue. Something I was grateful for, considering the silence that started to take root after we began our walk.

"You mean the one with the dojo?"

"Yep. That's my house. We'll probably be there in less than a minute."

"We're that close? I asked incredulously

"Ya. It's not that far a walk from the school. I usually take my bike though." He stated.

"Oh? Then why didn't you today?" He had sparked a fire of curiosity inside me.

He smiled a bit wider. "I did. I just walked back into town to pick up a new kendo sword for my sister."

"So that's why you had that sword." I said, finally figuring it out.

"Ya. I used to do kendo too. But it just wasn't for me."

He said it in a cheery tone, but his voice also held a bit of pain. It was obvious to me that he was hiding something.

"So, why does your sister need a new sword?" I asked, steering the conversation away from the secret that he was trying to hide.

"She broke her last one." He stated plainly.

My eyes went wide and my jaw fell open. "How to you break a kendo sword!?" I asked shocked.

He started to laugh, "I know right! You'd have to ask her!"

Our conversation had brought us to the front door of his home, and for once I wasn't anxious. I was actually kind of excited.

"Wait until you meet my sister. You'll love her!"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Feel free to leave reviews. Let me know if it's too corny/generic, or if the chapter is just too bad in general. In fact reviews and feedback would be greatly appreciated.**

Chapter 3

Asada's POV

I followed Kirigaya into his house, and I had no shortage of amazement. Not only did his house have a small pond in the yard, and a dojo separate from the house, it was very large as well. His house also possessed a lot of traditional Japanese designs. In short, his family was probably very wealthy.

A voice called out from somewhere in another room, "Kazuto, is that you?"

"Ya, it's me!" He called out in return.

"What took you so long!? Did you get the shinai?" the voice called out again, as the owner came through the doorway wiping her hands with a towel.

When the girl, who I assumed was Kirigaya's sister, saw me, an expression passed over her face for a split second. The expression was almost resentful. She turned her gaze to Kirigaya, and a smile graced her face.

"Who's your friend?" the girl asked. It wasn't hostile, or resentful, it was more curious than anything.

"Woah Suguha, slow down with the questions," Kirigaya said with a chuckle, "I won't be able to answer them all if you keep it up."

Kirigaya's sister's, or Suguha's, face grew red with embarrassment at Kirigaya's statement.

"I'm sorry, Kazuto." Suguha said bashfully.

"It's alright, but to answer your first two questions, I ran into some trouble on the way back from the shop, where I got your new shinai," He said, while taking the bamboo sword from the package that was slung around his shoulder, and holding it out to her. "And to answer question three, this is Asada Shino." he finished.

He stood there for what felt like a hour, holding the sword out to Suguha. She wasn't even making a move to grab it or thank him. She just stood there staring at him. She seemed to be thinking about something, that had her totally immersed in her mind.

"WAIT! WHAT!? What kind of trouble!?" She shrieked.

Kirigaya looked at me with a questioning and sympathetic gaze, as if asking permission to tell Suguha what had happened. I appreciated him asking, rather than just sharing. I nod my head, letting Kirigaya know that I'm okay with him sharing the story. He turned back to his sister and grabbed my hand. My face flushed crimson once again. He was trying to comfort me while he shared the story. It made me feel strange… but good.

He started his explanation to Suguha, all the while keeping a hold of my hand. He recapped his story of going to the store, hearing screaming, and coming to the rescue. I noticed that he was being exceptionally vague with his description. Even if it could have been a lot worse for me, it was still horrifying. So I was grateful for the vagueness in his recollection of the alleyway. The sooner I can forget what happened there, the better.

When he finished his explanation Suguha walked up to me and grabbed my shoulders. It made me a little uncomfortable, but it seemed that she too, was concerned about me. _What is up with this? Up until today, no one ever cared._ I thought. She kept looking me over. Every time she would look up at my face her eyes would linger there.

"Thank god you're alright Asada. Although, you're probably going to have a big bruise on your face." Suguha said regretfully.

My mind flashed back to when the man on top of me had hit me. I had completely forgotten about that until now, and now that I remembered it, all the pain hit me at once. I reached up to caress the cheek that the assailant struck.

Kirigaya let go of my hand, something that I was silently in protest over.

"I'll go get you some ice to put on that." He said, quickly followed by him running off somewhere up the stairs of his house.

I looked back at Suguha, and she smiled at me. It was a sad smile, one of sympathy and empathy. Getting a better look at Suguha, I realized that she seemed familiar. Something about her struck me as if I'd seen her before, but I couldn't have. Not unless she went to my school… Wait a minute. Suguha Kirigaya, I did recognize that name. She was the captain of the Kendo team! Moreover, she was was in class 1-B, and I was in 1-A. Not only did we go to the same school, we were in the same year.

"You're in the same year as me, right?" Suguha asked. This meant she knew who I was. Which undoubtedly means she has heard the rumors.

"Yes... " I mumbled, once again finding something interesting in my shoes.

"I thought so. Something about you seemed to familiar." Suguha stated with a smile. She didn't seem to care about the rumors either.

I worked up the courage to look back up at her, but she wasn't in the same position as when I looked down. She had started walking back in the direction of what I assumed was the kitchen. She looked back at me, still smiling.

"Well come on Asada, dinner's almost ready. I hope you like teriyaki salmon. Although I made that mostly for mom and Kazuto. I am also making salad."

"Thank you for your hospitality," I said instantly, "but I'm not very hungry." It was flat out lie. What's worse, is that my stomach chose that moment to growl, seemingly trying to contradict my words.

Truth be told, I didn't want to impose. Kirigaya brought me here so that I didn't have to walk all the way home, and now he and his sister were offering me dinner. I felt that it would be rude to accept his invitation to his house, and then eat his food. So I did the only thing that I could think of. I tried to weasel my way out of eating their dinner. But my stomach had other plans. I brought my right hand to my stomach, and my face flushed.

Suguha looked at me sideway. "You sure? Your stomach seems to think otherwise."

"Ya, I'm good." My stomach growled again.

Suguha stood in the doorway of the kitchen, facing forward, and looking at me over her shoulder. She seemed to be thinking about something. That, or contemplating whether or not to press me to change my mind. She turned around again, only this time around, her face was completely void of emotion. It was genuinely intimidating.

"I'm not taking no as an answer. You are going to eat with us, and that's final." she said commandingly.

Her voice held so much authority that I couldn't find it in me to deny her. I simply did as she told me to. I followed her into the kitchen, or rather, the dining room and the kitchen. Their kitchen was laid out in a modern design, but the kitchen was only half the room. The other half was reserved for the kitchen table. The windows that lined the wall all but framed the beautiful landscaping that they had in their backyard.

My mouth hung open. My apartment had nothing on this. Essentially, in my apartment, you would open the door, and walk through the tiny kitchen, and then you'd be in my bedroom. Whereas this house was more like a small palace. At least, that's how I saw it.

"You can have a seat anywhere at the table. The food will probably be done in about five minutes." Suguha said, once again returning to her kind hearted tone.

"Are you sure? I could help with the cooking if you'd like."

"No way, you are our guest. That, and after what my brother told me, it sounds like you deserve to take it easy. Now sit."

I once again did as I was told. I sat down at the table, and waited patiently for the food to be done. Or for Kirigaya to come back with the ice pack, whichever comes first.

I hear footsteps coming down the stairs rapidly. _That boy has the energy of a hyperactive toddler._ I thought to myself. I could not, however, hide my smile at the thought of Kirigaya running around like a child. His rapid footstep slowed to a walk, as he entered the room, ice pack in hand. He looked at the salmon teriyaki that his sister was making with an expression that read: This is the happiest day of my life. I almost burst out laughing at the face he was directing at the food.

He pulled his longing gaze away from the food to look at me. It almost seemed as if he was studying every individual feature of my face. Weird. I sat there awkwardly. Almost as awkwardly as I felt. Why was he looking at me like that?

He snapped out of his daze, or his staring, I couldn't tell, and started walking towards me. When he reached the chair that I was currently sitting in, he leaned down to my eye level. His eyes scanned over my face, particularly my left cheek. The cheek that was bruising.

"Yeah…" he said hesitantly, drawing out his words. "That's gonna leave one heck of a bruise." When he finished his assessment, he held the ice pack out to me.

"I figured as much," I said, taking the ice pack. "The rumors are going to fly at school." I held the ice pack up to my cheek and winced as it made contact, but left it on nonetheless.

"If they do, I'll be there to help set them straight." Kirigaya said.

"Me too. Any friend of Kazuto's is a friend of mine." Suguha followed.

"Thank you both so very much. But I don't want the entire school to know what happened. That would do more harm than good."

Kirigaya nodded his head, and said "Then how about this; we'll just say that I was on my way home, riding my bike, and I ran into you. That way no one can spread rumors about you."

I looked at him in shock. He would take that blame for the bruise on my face? I don't want him to look like a bad guy. Especially after he saved me from that alleyway, invited me into his home, and is now offering me food. Even if the story made it sound like an accident, my reputation would make people think he did it on purpose.

"Well thank you for offering to take the blame, but I am not going to let you do that. I'll just say that I tripped and fell or something."

"You sure? I'm more than willing to take the blame if it will help you deal with the kids at school." He said, affirming that he has no objections to it.

"Yeah, I'm sure. Thank you though, Kirigaya."  
He nodded and sat down in the chair next to me. He looked over to where Suguha was cooking the food. I followed suit, and looked at the salmon teriyaki, as well as the side dishes and salad. It smelled so good. I'm almost glad that she insisted on me eating with them.

"You know Asada," Kirigaya started. I turned back to look at him. "You can call me Kazuto."

 _Well that threw me for a loop._ I thought. I had been referring to him as Kirigaya, as symbol of respect, and formality, now he wants me to call him by his first name. Normally only close friends refer to each other by their first name. Which is a good thing, I guess. If he wants to be close friends then maybe the rest of middle school won't suck so bad.

"Okay, but only if you call me Shino."

Suguha came up to the table, food in hand, and set it down in the center of the table. It looked more like a feast than a dinner. There was so much salmon teriyaki, that it could have fed a family of eight. Not to mention all the rice and salad. Suguha then sat down at the table, folded her hands, and looked at Kazuto and I. We both followed her lead, and folded our hands.

"Thanks for the food!" We said in unison, as if it were orchestrated.

We started eating, and the food was amazing. The salmon teriyaki was cooked to perfection, the rice was perfectly seasoned, and the salad was filled with delectable ingredients.

"You know, if you're calling Kazuto "Kazuto" now, then you can call me Sugu." Suguha said in reference to our previous conversation.

I couldn't talk at the moment because my mouth was full of food so I settled for the next best thing. I simply nodded in response to her statement. She looked satisfied though, so I guess it was enough.

After the meal, I found out why there was so much. One, they were expecting their mom to show up, and two, Kazuto has a stomach that would put a black hole to shame. He just kept eating, and eating, and eating. How he stays to thin, I have no Idea.

"So where do you think your mom is?" I ask. After all, my plan was to get a ride home, and it was really starting to get late. If I have to walk home from here, I probably won't get much, if any, sleep.

Sugu was the one to respond, Kazuto was busy grumbling about a stomach ache. "I don't know. Let me call her." With that she excused herself from the table and walked into the other room, leaving Kazuto and I alone.

I leaned back in my chair and let my mind wander. _Maybe Sugu and I will start hanging out together. Or maybe Kazuto. Either way, I'd be glad to have a friend, especially someone like Kazuto. Maybe if I had a friend or two the bullying would stop._ I think that was just my wishful thinking though.

Sugu came back in the room with a melancholy look on her face. "Mom says that she is being kept late at the office, and that she has no idea when she will be getting home."

It was about six-thirty right now, and already pretty dark. I could risk walking home, through the same neighborhood that I went through on the way here, or I could stay here until god knows when, waiting for their mom.

Opting for the ladder, I stood up and started collecting the dishes from the table. Sugu started to protest, but I cut her off.

"You both have done so much for me, at least let me help with dishes."

Sugu looked none too pleased, but stopped her protests just the same. We both got to work, wiping, washing, and rinsing the dishes. It felt good to help out with something. At least that way I didn't feel like I was freeloading.

When we finished that task it was already seven, and Kazuto had stopped acting as though his stomach ache was the end of the world. He was on the other side of the counter with his elbows propped up on it. He watched us finish putting the dishes away as if it was some circus act.

"Shino? Would you like to watch some TV?" Kazuto asked, walking into the other room, which was obviously the living room.

"That would be nice." I said following him through the door.

"Not without me you don't!" Sugu laughed.

I followed Kazuto all the way to the couch that was situated in front of his television. He plopped down, and I carefully situated myself next to him. He was on the edge of the couch, and I was in the center. When Sugu saw this she seemed a little dejected, but she quickly recovered, and sat down next to me.

Kazuto turned the television on, and started flipping through channels. "So, what do you want to watch?"

I didn't really care what we watched, but Sugu held no shame in proclaiming that she wanted to watch anime. You would think that a girl like her would be more interested in sports, but no. She was set on anime. Kazuto flipped through some more channels until finding an interesting show.

We sat there for about an hour, watching episode after episode, but after the second episode, I started to get drowsy. I started dozing off, and would occasionally find my head landing on Kazuto's shoulder, only to be force away by me jolting upright. But at some point I couldn't hold off the fatigue any longer. I fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Shino's POV

I slowly opened my eyes. I had been asleep until about three minutes ago. Even after I woke up, I laid there, completely still. I had fallen asleep at Kazuto and Sugu's house, and I was a little worried. Not about me though. For one, I was freaking out over the fact that I would have to wear the same clothes that I did yesterday. I mean, sure we wear the same uniform everyday, but never the same one two days in a row. I was also a little worried about not having taken a shower last night. I didn't want to go to school with an odor about me, and I don't know whether they would like me using their shower or not.

As I was staring off into space, and pondering how to go about the situation, Kazuto walked into the living room rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He looked like he had just woken up, too. His hair was all messy, and he looked very tired. _He so cute like this._ I thought. Realizing what had just gone through my head, my face grew hot.

He stopped rubbing his eyes and looked at me. "Morning Asada. I'm making breakfast, you want some?" He asked.

He said it so casually that you would assume it was nothing out of the ordinary. Having a girlstay the night at his house didn't seem to faze him at all.

"I'll would like toast and eggs, if that's not too much trouble." I answered.

"Not a problem at all. Eggs and toast coming right up!" He proclaimed cheerily, as he turned around and walked toward the kitchen.

As Kazuto disappeared from sight, I sat there staring at the place he was staring. _Crap! I should have asked him if I could use his shower!_ I thought. After a quick mental reprimandation for not thinking about that sooner, I stood up to ask him. When I was on my feet and stretching my fatigued limbs, Sugu rounded the corner and smiled at me.

"Well good morning sleepy head!" She seemed unfazed as well.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" I asked.

"You're our guest. I should be asking _you_ that." She started "So, with that said, how'd you sleep?" She finished.

I couldn't help but smile at the manner she turned the question around on me. It was a mix of genuine curiosity, and a comedic turn of the question.

"I slept well. Thank you having me." I said, and then I remembered my previous concern. "Oh, and could I use your shower?"

Sugu's smile got a little wider, almost as if she found my awkwardness amusing. "Of course. The bathroom is down the hall, and on the left." She said pointing in the direction of the bathroom.

"Thank you, so much!" I exclaimed.

Sugu's eyes scanned over me. She seemed to be making a judgement on something. I looked down at myself, and was instantly reminded of my first issue: my clothes.

"When you get in the shower, lay your clothes on the counter. I'll wash them really quick. That way, no one will be able to tell that it's the same set of clothes."

She seemed to have read my mind. It was uncanny how easily she was able to understand what I was thinking.

"Thank you, for this, and everything else." I said.

"It's no problem at all, now go take a shower."

I nodded and started on my way to the bathroom. When I got there I pushed the door open and marveled it. The bathroom in my apartment was barely big enough for me to use, whereas this bathroom was a walk in, had a counter running along the wall, a toilet in the corner, and a shower opposite the toilet.

I started the shower water, and started taking my clothes off, while waiting for the water to heat up. When all my clothing was shed, I did as I was told to do, and put them on the counter. I reached into the shower to test the heat of the water, and it was perfect, so I climbed in, but I think that I'll keep the rest of the shower private.

When I finished I climbed out and wrapped a towel around myself, and my hair. I looked at the counter, and my clothes were not there, but there was a sweatshirt, and some sweatpants, as well as undergarments laid out for me. _Note to self: Never stop thanking Sugu._ I thought. I was walking over to the clothing when I heard the door click open.

In that moment, I had what was probably a thousand thoughts flying through my mind. Some of which were; "Sugu must have finished washing my cloths."; "No way. Clothes can't be washed that fast."; and "Oh god no!" I turned toward the door, only to see that my suspicions were correct. Kazuto stood in the doorway, eyes wide, jaw hanging open and face red.

I was frozen. I couldn't move. I was horrified, no, mortified, that this was happening. Unfortunately when I was finally able to move again, the first thing that I did was throw a can of hairspray at him.

"PERVERT!" I screamed.

He managed to dodge the hairspray, and was rapidly closing the door, all the while screaming "I'm sorry!"

When the door was closed once again, my face grew red. Probably redder than it has ever been before. I slipped on the undergarments that had been laid out for me, and then I grabbed the sweatshirt and sweatpants, and put those on as well.

It took every ounce of courage in my body to walk out of that bathroom. I knew that seeing Kazuto would be really awkward after that. I mean, he practically saw me naked. A shiver went down my spine at the thought.

I walked into the kitchen to find Kazuto with his face planted on the table, and Sugu scolding him over and over for not knocking before just barging in.

"We have a guest in the house, you can't just go barging in wherever and whenever you want!" Sugu chatsied.

Kazuto responded, although his voice was muffled from the table. "For the last time, I made a mistake. I didn't know she was in there, and I'm not used to having house guests."

Well that was somewhat of a relief. It didn't change the fact that he saw me, but now at least I know that he wasn't trying to be a pervert. He made a genuine mistake.

I continued walking into the kitchen and sat down at the table. Kazuto still had no idea that I was here. His face was still buried in the table. Sugu kicked Kazuto in the leg, and his head jerked up. When he saw me, he practically jumped from the chair, and got into a bowing position.

"I'm so sorry Asada. I wasn't paying attention to what I was doing. I didn't mean for any of that to happen. It was a complete accident. Please forgive me!" He apologized.

The words shot from his mouth so fast that I could barely keep up. It was all I could do to understand what he was trying to say.

I still had a huge blush on my face, and it was hard to look him in the eye, but I did my best to respond to him. "I… its… it's alright. I at least had a towel on, and I was just shocked." I stuttered softly.

He stared at me with regret written all over his face. It was obvious that he was really sorry for what had happened. So I figured that I should forgive him, and that we should just both forget it happened.

After that, and a few more apologies, Kazuto gave me the breakfast that he made for me. The three of us ate in awkward silence. Sugu was shooting a few scolding glares at Kazuto, Kazuto would glance at me every once in awhile, and I kept my eyes on the food that he had made for me. I was partially because I just felt really awkward, but it was also because I was deep in thought.

 _I know that it was an accident, but that doesn't make it any less embarrassing, or any less humiliating._ I thought. _And yet, anyone else, and I don't think that I would ever forgive them, so why was it so easy for me to forgive him. What about him made him so forgivable?_

I glance up, for the first time since starting breakfast, to look at Kazuto. _What is it about him?_

The three of us were standing in front of the school. The rest of the morning wasn't really worth talking about. Essentially we all got dressed, with little to no interaction. Nothing really interesting.

I was dreading getting to school. Yesterday started terribly, but then I met Kazuto and Sugu, and despite how bad it had been, it was probably the best day I've had in years. Once I start the school day, the process would probably repeat, only this time, I'd be going home, and I probably would rarely see Kazuto or Sugu.

We all walked through the gate of the school, and into the building. As we walked through the halls, I slowed my walk to a crawl. I didn't want to cause them trouble by having them be seen with me. The entire school would reject them, and they would become social outcasts.

In hindsight, I probably would have been better off just stay right behind them, because when I feel far enough behind, Endou approached me. She was out for blood. The look in her eye was one of rage, hatred and resentment.

"Shino!" she yelled. "Where were you last night!? We waited for you in our usual spot, but you didn't show up." Here voice had fallen to a lower volume, as not to attract attention.

"Yeah! We waited there for you, but you didn't show up." One of Endou's goon proclaimed. The second lackey quickly followed up with "We all got home late, and it's your fault."

I was gonna stand up to them this time. I was going to retaliate. Maybe if I stand up for myself then maybe they will stop targeting me.

"Maybe if you guys didn't wait so long to harass me, then you wouldn't have made it home so late. If you ask me, it's your stupid decision that got you home late!" The end of the statement came out as more of a growl than anything. I surprised myself.

Judging by the look on Endou's face, she was rather taken aback. She must not have thought that I had the guts to stand up to her.

"Well, well, Shino seems to have a mouth on her today," The evil grin accompaning the statement was disturbing to say the least "maybe we should teach her a lesson. What do you think girls?"

I felt her two lackeys grab me by the arms. _Oh no!_ I panicked. Endou started to raise her arm slowly. _NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!_ She had done this a few times before when she was really mad. I knew what was coming, and it would launch me into a panic attack.

A hand tapped Endou's shoulder. She dropped her arm so fast that it had to have broken the sound barrier, and fear spread over her face. She turned to face the person that had caught her. What I saw surprised me. Kazuto and Sugu were standing there. Kazuto looked casual, whereas Sugu had her arms crossed. _Well, she looks pissed._ I thought.

"I'd appreciate if you would let go of my friend." Kazuto said, his face void of any readable emotion.

Endou's face regained its bitchiness, and she said "No. I don't think I will."

I guess knowing that it wasn't a teacher spurred her confidence.

She turned back in my direction, and started to raise her arm again. Before I could even register what she was going to do, Sugu spun her back around, and punched her square in the face. Her lackeys let me go and rushed to her side to help her up.

"YOU BITCH!" She shrieked "Wait until the principle hears about this."

Sugu just simply pointed up at the ceiling, right to where the camera was set up.

"You could do that. But I think most of the punishment will end up on you. Everything you were doing to Asada was recorded. The school probably would never have found out, but if you go to the principle, then I can just bring up that piece of evidence."

Endou huffed angrily. "Why are you even helping her? She is a killer! A monster!"

"You're wrong. A person shouldn't be defined by what they have done. A person should be defined by what they will do. Or by their intentions." Kazuto spoke up. "If Asada was a killer and a monster, don't you think that she would have killed her bullies by now? Don't you think if she was like what you are making her out to be that you wouldn't be here?"

Endou's face faltered for a moment, and her lackeys shot glances at one another. Simple words wouldn't convince them to stop harassing me, but they sure looked unsure of themselves at the moment. It didn't last, however. Endou stood up straight, and threw some very creative curses at me, then at Sugu, and finally at Kazuto, then ran off with her lackeys.

Kazuto walked up to me, "Are you alright?" He asked softly.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I responded. "You do know that they are going to spread rumors about you right?"

"Yeah, but I don't care. They were picking on you, and no one picks on my friends!"

I felted touch, not only by that statement, but also his defense of me to Endou. I don't know what possessed me to do it, or why I couldn't stop myself from doing it, but I threw my arms around Kazuto.

I hugged him, and said "Thank you so much!"

"Hey! What about me!" Sugu protested. "I punched her in the face, don't I get a hug?"

I let go of Kazuto and walked over to her.

"Wait… I was just kidd…" I cut her off with a tight hug.

"And thank you too Sugu."

She hesitated a moment, but then finally returned the hug. "You're welcome Asada."

It was a warm and fuzzy moment. Or that is, it was, until the bell rang.

 **A/N: Ok well this chapter took me a lot longer than I would have liked. So here's the deal. I don't know how well I am doing. There have been a few reviews that have told me I'm doing well (shout out to: TheEagle44, Sleyyer, and Zeldaboy123), but out of 370 view, only three reviews doesn't bode well. So the more reviews, feedback and recommendations I get, The sooner the next chapter will be out. (0 reviews=whenever, 1 review=5-6 days, 2 reviews=4-5 days, 3 reviews=3-4 days, 4 reviews=2-3 days, 5 reviews=1-2 days.) Special deal:(Reviews5=Days2)**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Shino's POV

I ran into my classroom. I was so late, and I was going to get in so much trouble. The bell had rung four minutes ago, and I was on the other side of the school. I had to sprint, and it still took me four minutes.

I sat down at my desk, still breathing somewhat heavily. _God… I need to exercise more._ I thought. I looked to the front of the classroom, where Mr. Kawahara sat at his desk, typing away at his computer. While I looked toward him the rest of the class was throwing weird looks and glares my way. There was also a lot of whispering going one. I caught some of it, and none of what they had to say is worth repeating.

Mr. Kawahara stood up, and looked over the class. "Now that I have finished that, let's get attendance done."

 _No way._ I thought. _Did he stall for time, just so that I wouldn't be counted tardy?_ He grabbed a clipboard from his desk, and started calling of names. When he got to my name, he looked up.

"Here." I said. He looked back down and smiled into the clipboard.

It might just be me, but I'm pretty he deliberately stalled for time.

He finished attendance, and set his clipboard down. "Well since _everyone_ is here, let's get class started."

Yep he definitely stalled for time.

He picked up one of the many pieces of chalk that were sitting on his desk, and walked over to the chalkboard. He started writing something on the board. When he finished he moved away from the board, and turned to the class.

"The quadratic formula." He said.

The entire glass groaned, and I was no exception. We're starting with something that advanced this early in the morning? I mean seriously, we could have at least _started_ with something easy.

"I don't want to hear it. It's a lot easier than you think it it." He scolded. "All you have to do is try, and I'm sure you'll understand it."

From that point he just launched himself into a lecture. I couldn't repeat any of it if my life depended on it. It wasn't that I wasn't paying attention this time. I just had no idea what he was talking about. His words all seemed to blend together. He kept bringing up a's and b's, and then threw some c's in there. It just didn't make any sense. It probably didn't help that he was writing out all the math on the board. It only served to confuse me further.

He finished his chicken scratch, and lecture, and turned back to the class. "So, any questions?"

Everyone's hand shot in the air all at once. Mr. Kawahara face fell. He sighed, and facepalmed. My hand was in the air as well. He looked around the class and his eyes fell on me.

"Yes Shino?" He asked "You have a question?" He seemed exasperated.

"Yes sir. I would like to know what this equation is used for. I don't see any way that it could be used."

He back to the board and wrote out an equation. "You use it when you're given a quadratic equation that can either, not be factored, or will give you an imaginary solution." He explained. "When you can factor and pair, that is always easier. However, sometimes that won't work, and you will have to use the quadratic formula."

You would think that he would explain it a little better than that, but nope. He didn't go any more in depth that his previous explanation.

"Could you tell me what each variable means?" I ask.

"Of course. The 'a' represents the first coefficient, 'b' represent the second coefficient, and 'c' represent the final coefficient." He explained.

That actually helped me more than the entire lecture, and judging by how many hand went down, it helped them out a lot too. There were still a lot of hands in the air though. Mr Kawahara looked over them and started calling names.

Most of the questions were silly, or were just flat out a waste of time. They would repeat the same question, or ask something unrelated, so that they could kill time. I think that Mr. Kawahara knew, and just let it slide.

The bell was about to ring for second period, and honestly, I was looking forward to it. If I had to listen to any more of these dumb questions, or any more math at all I think that I would lose my mind.

"Alright class, since we didn't get around to the assignment, I guess you'll be taking it home. The assignment in page two hundred-forty-seven in you math textbook." He said. We just got played.

Everyone groaned again, and then the bell rang. We all started prepping for the next class; science. _Well my morning has started of 'wonderfully' hasn't it._ I thought. _First Endou, then math that I didn't fully understand, and now an assignment on that._ It sucked to say the least. _I wonder how Kazuto's day is going?_ Now wait a minute. Where did that thought come from? I don't know what's going on with me. _Could it be that I…_ I shook my head forcefully trying to banish my thoughts. _There's no way._ I convinced myself.

The rest of the day went by pretty normal, until lunch period that is. Sugu had packed all three of us lunches this morning. I don't know when she did it, but somehow she managed. Mr. Kawahara always eats lunch in the teacher's lounge, leaving us to our own devices. Usually if I stay in the class, I get bullied and harassed the whole time. That's why I always go to the roof, which is where the day got interesting.

When I got to the roof, there was someone there waiting for me. A someone with dark black hair. I knew who It was right away.

"Kazuto?" I question, despite my knowledge that it was indeed him.

He turned around to face me. "Hey Asada! How's your day been so far?"

"It's been better than it was yesterday, but what are you doing on the roof?" I ask.

He looked at me sideways, as if it were obvious why he was there. "I'm here to eat lunch with you of course." He said matter of factly.

"Oh…" My voice was softer than usual. "I usually just eat alone." I whispered. Despite my soft speaking, and low voice he seemed to hear me perfectly.

He looked crestfallen, but kept up a peppy tone. "Well alright. If you change your mind I'll be in class three-A." He said and started off toward the stairs

"Wait!" I shouted. I didn't mean to shout it. It's just how it came out. "I didn't mean that I didn't want to eat lunch with you. It's just that… I'm not used to having a friend to share lunch with."

He smiled at me. "Okay. let's getting eating!" He said, walking back toward me.

When he reached me I started walking to my usual spot, where I sit. He continued to follow me. When I sat down, he plopped down next to me, and we both opened our lunches. We ate, mostly in silence. We made some small talk here and there, but that was about it.

With Kazuto being so close to me, I couldn't focus, and I have a very weird feeling in my stomach, almost like butterflies fluttering around inside me. _Wait a minute…_ I thought. _I feel so strange when I'm around Kazuto, could that mean…?_

Trying to get my mind off the subject, I keep my eyes glued to my lunch box, and ask "Kazuto? Where's Sugu?"

"Oh, she's eating lunch with some of her friends form the Kendo team. She told me that she was going to invite you to eat with them," He explained "but they were a little nervous. She also told me she's going to introduce you to them sometime."

I was a little upset that they would be nervous to eat with me, but I didn't let it get to me too much. That response was nothing new. Then a thought popped into my head. I had a question, and I wanted an answer.

"Kazuto, how'd you know where I eat lunch?" I asked.

His face grew bashful, as if it were embarrassing. "I just asked Mr. Kawahara."

"Oh..."

"Yeah."

Once again finding the need to change the subject, I attempted to redirect the conversation. "So, do you have any hobbies?" I ask.

He was staring off into space. "Well, I play a lot of video games, if that counts."

Now I was curious. Why would a cute and popular boy like Kazuto play a lot of video games? _Did I just call Kazuto cute?_ I mentally questioned myself. Anyway, you would figure that a boy like Kazuto would be more active in clubs or sports. You would never peg him for the gamer type. Or at least I wouldn't.

"In fact, in two weeks, a new fully immersive game is opening for beta. I signed up, but only one thousand people are gonna get to beta test." He spoke with a certain passion in his voice.

His eyes lit up, followed by the rest of his face. "You should totally sign up for the beta! Wouldn't it be so cool if we both got in, and we could see each other every day?!"

My face grew hot, in what was probably a colossal blush. _See each other every day?_ I loved the idea of that. For some reason, it made me feel warm inside. He didn't even make a move to rephrase what he said.

"Maybe…" I say under my breath.

"Come on Asada, even if either of us don't get in, we could still play when the game is officially released." He brought up a compelling argument.

"Alright I'll sign up for the beta, and we'll see if we get in." I conceded. I said it before. I'm not big on games, but who knows. Maybe I'll love it as much as Kazuto does

The rest of the day went by in a blur. I was barely paying attention to any of the lectures, only this time I was at least able to fake it. I was actually excited to sign up for the beta. As excited and distracted as I was, my thought would constantly drift back to Kazuto. _What is wrong with me? Why can't I get him out of my head?_ I thought.

Almost the whole class had filed out by the time that I had my supplies packed. I walked to the door, only to find Kazuto and Sugu standing there.

Sugu smiled at me. It was a warm and genuine smile. One that I had not seen on anyone in a long time. "You want to come over again Asada?"

I was surprised at the offer. "I don't know…" I said

"If you're worried about getting a ride home, don't be. I called mom ahead of time to make sure she would be home. Although, It is a weekend. We could have a sleepover!" Sugu said excitedly.

"But I don't have any extra clothes, or pajamas for that matter."

"Don't worry about it. We can have our mom run you by your place to grab some clothes and pajamas."

I hesitated. I really would like to do some normal friend stuff for once. Then again, if I stay the night with Sugu, Kazuto will be in the house. Last time it was an accident, but this time it would be different. It made me a little nervous

"Come on Sugu! Please—" Sugu was begging, and it was almost impossible to say no with her throwing the puppy dog eyes at me.

"You and your brother both, huh?" I said. I remembering that Kazuto pulled that same face when he talked me into signing up for the beta test of this new game. "Alright I'll stay the night if you're sure it's okay.

"Of course It's okay!" Sugu proclaimed. "Let's get going then."

I simply smiled and followed the two out of the classroom, and toward the exit of the school. Once we got to the front gate of the school Sugu asked "Asada, what did you mean by him and me both?"

We all arrived at Kazuto and Sugu's house about a half an hour after school got out. We were talking, horsing around and laughing. If you saw us you probably would have assumed that we had been friends all our lives.

We walked through the front gate to their house and up to his front door. Kazuto withdrew a key from his pocket, and opened the door.

"Why does mom trust you with the key? You wouldn't be able to keep track of your head if it wasn't attached."

"Because I'm older, which means i'm more responsible."  
Sugu burst out laughing, and I brought my hand to my mouth to stifle the giggles that were coming out. I hadn't even known them that long, and it was obvious that Sugu was the mature one. "Kazuto!" Sugu said between fits of laughter "You are the farthest thing from mature that I've ever seen!"

Kazuto looked at me for support. My hand was still over my mouth stopping me from breaking into a fit of full on laughter, but with my my free hand, I managed to sign 'I don't know'.

He turned back to the door. He looked dejected, but also, playful. I think he actually enjoys sessions like this. They probably throw insults at each other all the time and laugh about it. The lock clicked, and Kazuto opened it.

"Ladies first." He said.

"I agree" Sugu said deviously. "So why don't you go in first."

Another wave of giggles hit me, I couldn't stop laughing. Their sibling bickering was so adorable, and so funny.

"Kazuto? Sugu? Is that you?" Came a voice from the living room. _I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that it's their mom._ I thought. "Did your friend decide to come over?" The voice was getting closer. She was coming this way.

"Yeah, mom." Kazuto said "Come meet her."

Their mom rounded a corner, and saw me. She smiled at me. "So you're Asada Shino. It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too ma'am." I said, bowing a bit.

She turned to Kazuto, and her face became serious. She looked like she could explode on him for something at any second. "And you, mister," She started, pointing a finger at him "better behave yourself."

"Yes ma'am!" he squeaked.

"Good, now I have to run to the store. Sugu's in charge while I'm gone."

"What!? Why does she get to be in charge?"

She looked him in the eyes. "Because she's more responsible." This time he really looked dejected. I don't think he was expecting that.

Their mom grabbed her car keys and walked out the door. We heard the roar of an engine, and then we saw the car turn out of the driveway, and disappear in the distance.

Remembering our conversation at lunch, I asked Kazuto a question. "Do you have a computer anywhere." A grin slowly spread across his face. He grabbed my hand and practically dragged me toward the stairs. The contact of his hand made my face heat up… again.

We got to the top of the stairs only to be met by another hallway. He dragged me to the near end, and stopped in front of a door. He opened it, and we were greeted by a somewhat tidy room. I could hear Sugu's steps following us up the stairs.

Kazuto let go of my hand, and made his way through the room toward a setup of computers that he had at a desk. He plopped down in his swivel chair, turned on his computers and monitors, and began typing away. By now Sugu had caught up to us. She stood there shaking her head.

"Leave it to Kazuto to drag a cute girl to his room to show if his computers." She said. I couldn't tell if she was relieved, or embarrassed to be related to him.

He turned around in his swivel chair, and looked at me and Sugu. "Well why else would anyone come into my room?" This family must be enigmatic or something. Now I couldn't tell if he was serious, or just plain ignorant.

"Anyway, what is it you wanted to use the computer for Asada?"

"I was actually going to sign up for the beta for that new game."

He smiled and opened a tabbed page. "There you go then."

It had been a few Hours since then. Kazuto and Sugu's mom had taken me to get clothes and pajamas from my apartment. I really like their mom. She was nice to me, and was so easy to talk to.

I sat in Sugu's room. We both sat cross legged across from one another.

"So, let's talk." Sugu said.

"About what?" I questioned. I was a little confused. I had never been to a sleepover before, even before the incident. So I had no idea what we do.

"About anything! Everything!"

I must have looked as confused as I was because she went into further detail. "You know, we tell each other secrets and gossip." I'm not a fan of gossip, especially because in our school, often time's I'm the topic of interest. I think she caught on because she immediately changed the activity. "Or we could play truth or dare."

I had never played this either, But I had heard that it is supposed to be a lot of fun. "Alright. Let's do it."

"Okay. I'll go first. Truth or dare?"

I thought for a second. Do I gradually dip into dare, or should I just jump right in? "Dare." I said hesitantly.

"I dare you to… run up and pinch Kazuto's cheeks!"

I got up and walked to the living room. _What am I doing!? What am I doing!?_ Kazuto was on the couch. I ran in front of him, and pinched his cheeks. After I had done it, I ran back to the room, Kazuto staring after me curiously, with two red cheeks.

Sugu was laughing hysterically when I got back. Revenge time. "Truth or dare?"

She didn't even hesitate "Dare!"

"I dare you to… to… sit down next to Kazuto, and start tickling him."

She got up, walk right out of the room and toward Kazuto. I sat there. Waiting for her to come back. When I heard Kazuto say "Sugu? What are you…" and then burst out laughing, I knew that she had done it. She wasn't even fazed by it. So much for revenge.

She came back with a huge grin on her face. "Truth or dare?"

"Truth!" no way was I going end up on the side of a dare again.

"Hmmm… Who do you have a crush on?"

 _Shit!_

"I… umm... " My face grew hot. There was only one person I could possibly have a crush on. "I think… that I might… have a crush on…"

Sugu leaned forward in anticipation. "Come one, spit it out! You're killing me!"  
"I think that I might have a crush on Kazuto!" I said it so fast, that _I_ could barely keep up with what was coming out of my mouth, but she understood it perfectly.

Her face went void expression. She sat like that for at least two minutes. Then in one sudden explosion she squealed. You know that trope, where girls squeal really loud when they get excited. Well that's about how it was.

 **A/N: Well this was a long chapter.**

 **Anywayyyyy… I have to routes that I'm looking at. Shino getting the beta, and Shino not getting the beta. I want to know which one all of you like the sound of. Keep in mind that I have separate plans for each route. I just don't know which one I want to take yet. I'm opening a poll to take, the side that gets the more votes will** _ **most likely**_ **get written in, no promises though. The poll can be reached via my profile page, or the url:** u/8880266/williamwizard100#


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Shino's POV

It had been two weeks since I told Sugu about my "crush" on Kazuto. To my surprise, most everything stayed the same. Except, of course, for Sugu trying to talk to me about my crush whenever Kazuto is absent. Not that I mind at all. Sometimes it feels good to pour out your soul to your closest friends. Although, she keeps trying to get me to tell Kazuto how I feel, which is completely out of the question. I am barely managing to keep Sugu from telling him for me.

I also have been watching my email for the news that will determine whether or not I get into the beta for this new game. Despite my previous disinterest in games, I found myself waiting for the email in hopeful anticipation. I really wanted to get into the beta. It might just be because Kazuto and I would play it together, but I couldn't help but feel that there was something more to it. In the game, no one would know who I am. It would almost be like getting a redo on life. A chance to make more friends.

In fact, I'm sitting on my bed watching the computer on my nightstand right now. I had already bought the NerveGear, which in hindsight might not have been the best idea. If I didn't get the beta, then I'd have a game system with no games to play, and would have to wait until the official release. Oh well. What's done is done. I was still staring at my computer, hoping and praying that I got in.

I turned in my bed, and hung my legs over the edge. I pushed myself up, and headed over to the fridge. I had been staring at that computer for an hour, and I'm hungry. I opened the fridge, and scanned over the contents. I've said It before, I don't keep much food at my apartment, so there wasn't much to snack on. I continued to skim Through the fridge, all the while thinking _I really need to start keeping food around the house._

That's when I heard the digital 'woosh' and paper sound come from my computer. I spun my head toward my computer so fast I nearly got whiplash. _What are the odds? I leave my computer for one minute, and that's when the email comes in._ I thought.

I walked to my computer. As excited for the email as I was, there was no sense in rushing, the nightstand was only a few paces away. I got to the computer, sat down on my bed, and looked at the most recent email, "SAO beta test drawing" This is it, I either get a copy of this "SAO" game, or I have to wait.

I hesitantly opened the email. I was afraid to see if I got in. It was making me so nervous. The email read: "Your application for the Sword Art Online beta test is much appreciated." _Get to the point already dammit!_ I thought.

I continued reading. For majority of the email was just an explanation of what the game was about, and how it was a revolutionary game on an "All new, revolutionary, fully immersive virtual reality game" I just wanted it to tell me if I got in or not, but of course they save that part for the very end of the email. I got to the very end, and I was on the edge of my seat… bed… whatever.

The final line of the email read: "Congratulations! Your application was one of the few that has been selected for the beta test of Sword Art Online! Enjoy this exclusive experience!"

The word elated does not even begin to describe how I felt in that moment. I jumped up from the bed and into the air

"Yes! I'm in!" I cheered. Rather loudly I might add.

Then it hit me. I had not, for one second, considered whether or not Kazuto had gotten into the beta. Sure, he sent in an application, but that does not mean that he got in. If not, it would put a huge damper on my excitement.

I scrambled to grab my phone. _If the email was automated, then he should have gotten his at the same time, give or take a minute or two._ I thought. I had to call him, I had to know whether we would be playing together or not.

I found the phone and began scrolling through all my contacts. By all, I mean Kazuto, Sugu, My mom, and my grandparent. Other than that I didn't have many numbers save to my phone. I found Kazuto in my contacts, which Sugu had taken the liberty of putting a little heart image next to. It was embarrassing when I found out about it, but I couldn't bring myself to change it.

I selected Kazuto's name, and clicked the call button. It rang, two or so times, then he picked up.

"Hey shino, what's up?" He seemed so casual. _Wouldn't he be excited if he got the email?_ I started to get worried.

"Oh nothing," I stated mischievously. "I just got an email. An email that told me I got into the beta!" I squealed excitedly.

"Really?!" He questioned. "That's awesome! Wait a minute, let me go check my email!"

I could hear the pounding of his feet even through the phone. I could also hear his mom yelling at him for running around the house, and his passive apology. I waited a few minutes. Then I hear his voice over the phone again.

"Asada? You still there?" he questioned. His voice sounded upset. _Please don't tell me you didn't get in!_ I thought

"Yeah, I'm still here. So what does your email say. Did you get in?" I responded.

"No, I didn't get into the beta."

In that moment I had a swirl of emotions. I was sad that we would not be playing the beta together, I was angry with the drawing system, I mean come on, I did this on a whim, he was the one who wanted in more, and finally, I felt guilty that I got in and he didn't.

I heard some stifled noises from the other end of the line. _Is he crying!?_ This did not help my feeling of guilt.

Then, all of the sudden I heard him burst into laughter. _No… freaking… way!_ Now I was just mad. If he just did what I think he did…

"How… how good… did I get you!?" He managed between his fits of intense laughter.

"You got me too good, you jerk! Don't ever do something like that to me again!"

I yelled at him. "So I take it that your _did_ get into the beta?" I asked.

"Yeah, I got in." His laughter had died down a little, but I could still here a few light chuckles, and I could practically see the grin on his face. but I was relieved, nonetheless

"Well that's good. So when do you think the game will arrive?"

I heard him mumbled something inaudibly. "The email says that it should be delivered to our addresses no later than tomorrow."

I looked back at my computer and looked over the email. _It did?_ I didn't remember reading anything about that. I skimmed over it a few more times and finally found it. It was a little farther down than what I had falsely assumed was the final line of the email. Sure enough, it read: "The game should arrive at the address you provided no later than September 5, 2022."

That was tomorrow. They didn't waste any time in shipping it did they? By tommorow, I would be playing Sword Art Online with Kazuto, and another, nine hundred ninety eight, lucky players.

The next day came, as did the delivery truck that dropped a small package off at my apartment doorstep early in the morning. It was a monday, so I was stuck at school thinking of that package all day, unable to play the game, and stuck waiting in anticipation of what the game will be like.

Although, ever since I started actually hanging out with Kazuto and Sugu, I haven't really been getting picked on. So school wasn't as much of a burden as it would have been had I not had them. I felt guilty though. It seemed like some of the people they usually hand out with have been avoiding them because of me being around. It made me feel like I was ruining their social life, but every time I try to bring it up to them they insist that I am not, and that they would much rather be hangin out with me. It made feel warm inside, especially when Kazuto would say something like that.

For most of the school day, I pushed myself hard to finish all my assignments before I went home. That way I could get home and start playing the game right away. I don't know how I did it, but somehow I manage to get all the homework done before school ended. And when it did, I practically ran all the way home.

I got to my apartment, put the key in, and typed in the code. The door clicked open, and I rushed inside. I set up the NerveGear, and put the game in. _Why am I in such a rush, the game isn't going anywhere._ I mental questioned myself. I didn't even bother answering my own question, I just kept on getting it ready. Honestly though, I think that I could have gotten It done faster had I just slowed down.

I took my glasses off, put the NerveGear "rig" as kazuto had called it, on, and did all the necessary calibration, like touching all over my body. _Weird._ I stopped. I was hesitating. It's not that I was having second thought. More like I was wondering how to start the game. The manual had explained that you just just say "link start" but I couldn't believe that would start the game. _Oh well, worth a shot._

"Link start!" I called out.

My vision of the world around me went black, then quickly switched two white. Colorful three dimensional lines flew toward me. Or did I fly towards them. No Idea. When the colors finally disappeared, little circles, each labeled with one the five senses started showing up in my vision. Each one would show up, test the connection of each sense, say "OK" then move off to the side. Finally, it finished what I could only assume was the set up.

I stood there. I knew that I just jumped into a game but it felt so real. Options showed up in a window right in front of me. I looked up, "Avatar Design" I raised my arm to press the buttons in the avatar design window. As I started selecting different features, a character started to appear off to the side. If I would select a different set of clothing, the characters clothing would change. After what felt like forever, I had finally found a combination of features that I liked. My character's height is a few inches higher than my own. Her hair was black, like mine, but instead of having the two strands that frame her face, she had long hair that went down to her shoulders. My choice's for her cloths were limited though. Most of the clothing looked the same. It was all skirts, go figure, and blouses, with a decorative armour. I did get to chose the color though, so at least there was that. Her cloths were a dark green.

When that was over, a new window appeared. This one was asking for a character name. This stumped me. I had not thought of that until now. _Should I play on my real name a bit? Or maybe something else entirely?_ I had no Idea. _Hmm, I think that I'm gonna play off my surname._ I started going through combinations in my head, most of them sounded ridiculous, but one of the combinations I liked. _Sinon._

I type the name into the window, pushed 'OK', and then I was enveloped by a flash of light. I was officially in SAO.

Kazuto and I had planned out a way to find each other. He told me what "handle" he'd be using, and to just look for the "handle" or send a friend request. After I explained to him that I had no idea what that meant, he finally told me. It basically just meant it was his character name. _If he told me his, why wasn't I planning mine?_ I questioned myself. I felt kinda stupid.

I looked around. In all of the hundred or so people in this plaza, I didn't see one nametag. I kept seeing people swipe their hands downward, opening some kind of window. _Must be how to get to the friend requests._ I thought.

After figuring all that out, I sent a friend request to the player with the name "Kirito". Then, I sat down, and waited. Kazuto had told me that he would be able to find me if we were friends, so I didn't see a point in waiting around.

It took about ten minutes for a boy to walk up to me. He was tall, had messy black hair, and was dressed like everyone else, but somehow, I knew who was behind that character

"What's up Sinon?" he said with a smile. "Shall we get started?"

"Yeah. Lead the way… because this is my first game. Its confusing, and I have no idea what I'm doing, or how to do it."

That's how the first day of the beta went. I learned how to operate the game, we farmed monsters, we leveled up, and got some good gear. I was enjoying It so much. I even got some new skills. Eventually, though, we had to log out.

"Same thing tomorrow?" he asked.

"You know it!" I responded excitedly.

I was pumped for these next months of gaming. I knew that I was excited, but I didn't know that I would enjoy it _this_ much. This was going to be fun.

 **A/N: I know some of you must be thinking: "Why didn't she choose blue hair?" Well, personally, I believe that her GGO avatar was given to her at random, so she didn't get to customize it. I also think that she transferred her avatar from GGO to ALO, and even if not, she could have come to love the avatar she was give. So I gave her a little choice in my story.**

 **Also, stay tuned. I have some fun plans that involve Asada's glasses, her eyes, a story, and of course, adorable moments with Asada and Kazuto. Sound interesting? I hope so, because I am going to enjoy writing it.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Shino's POV

The two months of the beta flew by as though it were only a few minutes. Today was the last day, and the beta server was hosting an event. All gear would be free and rare drops were seventy five percent more likely to drop. I didn't understand why they would do that. They were just going to reset our character for the official release, so any gear or drops that we got would just disappear. Kazuto told me that it just gave players a good feeling to get rare items.

That was another thing. With all the sad feelings that came from the beta closing, also came good memories of the time I spent gaming with Kazuto. We still hung out in the real world, but when we weren't, we were hanging out in SAO. We were almost never apart, and it made me feel fuzzy inside. Being around Kazuto gives me the best feeling I've ever had. If I had to say, I think my little infatuation extends way beyond a simple crush. I still couldn't tell him that though.

I put the NerveGear on my head, and call out "link start!" Kazuto and I were going to enjoy the event, and spend the last of the time left in the beta finding secret and tricks to give us an edge in the game. The usual startup did it's thing, and once again, I found myself in SAO. Everything was decorated for the event.

I opened my "friend finder"; once of the many tricks I picked up, and searched Kazuto's "handle", Kirito. It pulled a small map up, and guided me to him. He wasn't far away.

I find It strange, how any time I'm on, he will be too. It's like he never logs out. Normally I'd get on and he'd send me a private message, or party message, asking; "What's up?"; "How's it going?"; or even just saying "I'm glad you're on." That last one makes me giddy every time.

I really need to talk to Sugu about this. She'll know what to do. Although every time I've asked her for help, or for an explanation on what I was feeling, she just tells me to tell him how I feel, or to drop subtle hints. She's said it so much that I've actually started considering it. I just can't ever work up the courage I need.

I walked to his location on the map, and sure enough, there he was. A devious smile graced my lips. I had a plan, and I think it'll be funny. I used my sneaking skill to get right behind him, but as I was about to cover his eyes, he turned around. I stopped dead in my tracks. _But how?_ I thought.

"You do know my detection skill is really high right?" He asked with a triumphant smirk on his face.

"I didn't, actually. Good to know." I deadpanned.

He just laughed heartily, smiling all the while. Honestly, I like the real Kazuto better. His avatar was more masculine than he was, sure. But Kazuto just had a certain charm about him. His face is so cute, especially when He laughs. Even if I had to miss his appearance in the game, at least it was still Kazuto, and his voice was the same. To add onto the pile of things that I like about him his voice is another thing. His voice, at least to me, was soothing, and comforting. You know what, let's just make it understood that I loved everything about him.

After a little more banter between he two of us, we set out on our last adventure of the beta. We wanted to at least clear the current floor, but I didn't see that happening. We killed countless monster, got unbelievable amounts of rare item drops, and found plenty of tricks that would give us an edge in game. We played till the virtual sun was setting, which meant about sunset in the real world too.

We were sitting on a cliffside, on the third floor, watching the sun. _This seems like something right out of a romance novel. Watching a sunset with you partner._ I thought. I used to shake those thoughts out of my head, or scold myself for having them, but now, I almost welcomed them. It was my own personal fantasy; Being together with Kazuto. I knew he was way out of my league. He was popular, funny, cute, and so nice. I was not of those things. I definitely am not popular. I can't honestly say that I'm funny, but that doesn't stop me from trying. I am in no may extremely attractive. And anyone you ask will say I'm a terrible person.

I turn my head to look at him, and he keeps his eyes on the sunset. I tried to work up enough courage to at least hint that I like him. Although, "He is really ignorant to those kinds of things" In the words of Sugu. So even if I do work up the courage, my hints might not be enough.

"Kazuto?" I ask hesitantly.

He turned away from the sunset to look at me. "Yeah? What is It Asada?" He asked.

"Do you… like the sunset?" I asked. I chickened out of asking the real question that I wanted to know the answer to: _Do you think we could be more than friends?_

He smiled wide. "Yeah. The sunset looks so realistic. Although, It's the real deal that gives the imitation it's beauty."

"What?" I questioned. I wasn't following.

"Okay, look at it this way. What gives a painting it's beauty?"

"The artist's interpretation?"

"No, but close. I think that a painting is given its beauty from the real image. If the image that was painted never existed then the beauty never would have been copied to a canvas. So that's where the beauty lies. With the original. Same deal with the virtual sunset."

"Oh." Was All I could muster up. That was deep.

The rest of the time we spent sitting in silence, watching the sunset, until we finally had to log out.

Yesterday was fun, but now it's November sixth: the official release of the game. It was launching at one o'clock, and I wasn't gonna miss one second of it.

I looked at the alarm clock on my nightstand. It was was twelve fifty eight. I had two about two minutes until the servers went up. I started to get excited, I just couldn't wait any longer. I put the NerveGear on, and laid in my bed, staring at the internal clock of the headset.

The clock went turned to twelve fifty nine. One more minute until the game starts. Then Kazuto and I will be back in the game, and we will beat it. No matter how long it takes. We had both agreed on that at the start of the beta.

I waited and waited and waited. Who knew a minute could feel like an eternity? Finally the clock turned, I I called out the very familiar phrase.

"Link start!"

I was once again enveloped in the colorful startup of the NerveGear. I had come to love the passing of the colors. To me, it symbolized a better version of myself. In the game, no one picked on me, I had a long list of friends, and I could almost look like whatever I want.

I entered my username and password into the system, and it gave me a list of avatars. When I say a list, I mean one name: Sinon. _I don't have to redesign my avatar? Cool!_ I thought excitedly. I selected "Sinon", and everything disappeared, only to be replaced with large words that read "Welcome To Sword Art Online"

I was transported into the game. I took a moment to marvel at the number of people in the spawn. I had heard that all ten thousand copies of SAO had sold out in minutes, but from what I could tell, all of them were logged on. I didn't expect this many people to log on at the exact moment it opened.

I started looking around for Kazuto. Unfortunately, when it saved my avatar, it didn't save my friends list. I could always send another request to Kazuto, but I didn't know whether he decided to keep his old avatar, or make a new one. If he chose to make a new one, then he probably would change his handle as well, but after about ten minutes of looking, my patience was wearing thin.

"Screw it. I'm gonna try to send him a request." I mumbled under my breath.

I opened the menu and opened the friend request window. I typed in the name Kirito, and pressed the circle button that would confirm the request.

To my surprise it actually found a player with that name. _Okay. Maybe I should have done that earlier._ I scolded myself. _If I had, I could have found him ten minutes ago._ What further surprised me was that he responded to the request almost immediately. I got a little flustered at that. _Was he just waiting for me to send a request?_

I opened the friend finder feature, and stared at the map. _Kazuto is in the boar fields? I thought he was gonna head straight for one of the questing locations._ Either way, I wanted to meet up with him as soon as possible, boars or not. I started walking in the direction of the field, and gradually started picking up speed until I was in a full blown sprint.

It didn't take long to get to Kazuto's locations. As soon as I saw him, I slowed down. _Who is that that he's with?_ I thought. Next to Kazuto stood a boy, or at least the avatar looked like a boy's, but Kazuto told me that sometimes players will play as the opposite gender. I didn't understand why exactly, and any time I'd ask Kazuto, his face would go red, and he'd avoid the topic.

The "boy" standing next to Kazuto was about his height, had long pinkish-red hair, and wore a bandana. He was in a stance, as if he had just used a sword skill, and then he broke into a giddy dance. _Guess he killed something._ I thought.

I was only a few feet away when I heard this guy say "Holy crap, you gotta be kiddin! I thought that was a mid level boss."

I couldn't help it. I burst into laughter. I knew this guys was new, but I didn't know he was that new. I figured he'd at least know that that was a field monster. My laughter got Kazuto's attention, and he turned to look at me, as did the new guy.

"Hey Sinon!" Kazuto greeted enthusiastically. We had both agreed to call each other by our player handles when around other people.

"What's up Kirito? Showing someone the ropes?" I asked. I was smiling, which to the new guy, probably made me look like I was mocking him. However, the smile was not directed at him. It was directed at Kazuto. It never ceased to amaze me how he was so kind.

I turned the majority of my attention to the boy who I had dubbed "The New Guy." He was acting pretty blank. He just stood there, staring at me with wide eyes, and mouth ajar. It really made me uncomfortable.

"Uhh… Hello there. I'm Sinon, and you are?" Most of manners were absent in that question, but he was making me uncomfortable, so I don't really care what he thinks of me right now. _That's not normal for me. Normally I care what everyone thinks about me. Then again, I'm not me right now. I'm Sinon._

He still stared at me. I couldn't tell if he was lagging, or just acting weird. Then all at once it became really clear. "My name's Klein. I'm twenty two and single. What about you?" He blurted out.

My face was probably really red, but I definitely wasn't flattered. I was embarrassed, and flustered. I looked at Kazuto for support, but he seemed just as shocked as I was.

"Oh… Gotcha…" Klein said. He sounded dejected.

 _What made him back off that fast? He said that as soon as I… looked at… Kazuto… Oh no._ Now I was really embarrassed. What I wouldn't give for that to be the case, but the last thing I needed was for Kazuto to get awkward around me.

"Kirito, you're a lucky guy. I have been trying to find a girlfriend for forever." Klein congratulated Kazuto.

"No, it's not like that." Kazuto defended. As much as I appreciated him dulling the embarrassment, I could also feel my heart break. _I knew he wasn't interested in me in that way._

"Oh…" Klein drawled out. "Then she's single?"

"Hey!" I yelled. "I'm right here you know! You could just ask me!"

"Alright. Are you single?" He asked hopefully.

Now I was in a panic. _What do I do, what do I do!?_ I said the first thing that came into my head. "No. I have a boyfriend back in the real world." _Why do I talk?_

Kazuto's head spun back toward me and away from Klein. He looked surprised, as well as something else that I couldn't place. "You do?" He asked.

"Y… Yes?" I stuttered. It was more of a question that anything else. I was having an internal debate admit my lie, or keep it going.

"Oh." was all he said. _Just great. Now I have_ absolutely _no chance with him._

Klein drop to his knees. "Dang it!" He cried out. "Why are the cute ones always taken!?"

"No offense Klein, but for one, You are a bit too old for me, and for two, you don't know what I look like in the real world. I'm not near as attractive there." I pointed out.

Kazuto looked at me sideways, with a concerned and questioning glance. I don't know why he looked at me like that but now that he had, he and Klein were both making me uncomfortable.

"Wait a minute… how old are you?" Klein questioned.

I know that it is unusual for you to tell other players anything about yourself in the real world, but I wanted to make a point, so I opted to tell him. "I'm thirteen." I deadpanned.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" He cried. After that he was more talking to himself. "I really have to stop hitting on random girls!"

 _Well that says a lot about his character._ I thought. _I don't think that I'm going to like this guy._

Despite the situation and the way that I was acting, Kazuto just started laughing. _He finds this funny?_ Klein had gotten up, and was staring at Kazuto.

"You alright man? You sound kinda crazy." He said. He was smiling though.

"Klein, you're hilarious!" Kazuto cried between his fits of laughter.

"Yeah, well I try." He said.

Wait, what!? He was joking? I couldn't tell whether he was serious and playing it for humor or if he was just making it up all together. I've know Klein for five minutes, I know almost nothing about him, and he is still driving me mad.

I stayed quiet after that. I didn't want to talk to him, or be around him. Unfortunately Kazuto had other plans. He invited Klein and I into a party. I accepted because it was Kazuto, and I was really hoping Klein Wouldn't, but no such luck.

We all started farming, but in the first few minutes, while Klein was killing yet another boar, Kazuto pulled me aside.

"Do you really have a boyfriend?" He asked.

"No, not really. I just wanted Klein to leave me alone."

"Oh. Thank god." he said, sounding relieved.

 _Why would it be that much of a relief? Unless… Nah, it couldn't be._

We spent a lot of time farming the lower level monsters so that we could get some more money, and drops. We even leveled up a few times. Klein had been more tolerable than I thought he would be, and now we were all hanging out in a safe part of the field, watching the immaculately realistic environment.

"Well guys, I have a pizza coming at five thirty, so I gotta logout." Klein said. He sounded almost depressed that our farming would end.

He swiped his hand and opened the menu, selected "options" and went down to the logout option. Or rather, where It should have been. "Uh, guys, where's the logout button?" He asked

Kazuto looked at him like he had two heads. "It should be…" He was cut off when we were teleported.

We were back in the plaza, and people were still teleporting in. From the looks of it, all the players who had logged in earlier today, hadn't been able to log out either. Fear started creeping into my mind. _Why are we stuck here? Is it a bug? When will it get fixed?_ I asked all these questions to myself, but I heard others voice my thoughts perfectly. Some in shouts, some in whispers.

The sky turned red, and divided into polygons. Each one either reading "system announcement", or "warning." A red liquid, what I could only assume was blood started seeping through the seams of the polygons, and a human like figure appeared.

"Attention players. I welcome you to my world." The gargantuan figure proclaimed, his voice reverberating from every wall in the plaza.

At that point I stopped paying any attention to the figure that I could only assume was the game master. I was too busy looking around at other players reactions. From the looks of it they were all thinking the exact same thing that I was. _What does this guy mean by that? Why does he say that it is his world?_ I stayed in a deep state of thought for most of the speech that the figure was giving. I only snapped back to reality when he announced that death in the game, would result in death in reality, and when he said that he had left a gift in our inventory. I looked at Kazuto, who was opening his inventory, and I followed suit.

When I opened the inventory, I only had the items we had from low level monsters, which, for the most part is only good for selling, and a new item. I selected that one. When the item description came up, it read "mirror" I equipped it, and it appeared in my hand. Blue light started flashing everywhere. It looked like the teleport animation.

I too, was enveloped in the light. At first I was freaking out. _What is happening!?_ I thought. _Am I being teleported again?_ When all the light in the plaza faded, nothing looked the same. I looked over to Kazuto, and that just what I found. Kazuto was standing there, not Kirito, but Kazuto. I did a double take, and then looked in my own mirror. Just as I thought. Instead of looking into the face of Sinon, I was looking into the face of Asada Shino. I was looking at the real me.

My eyes grew wide. Not only was this the real me, but I wasn't wearing my glasses when I put the NerveGear on. _No no no no!_ I thought. _I need my glasses._

The figure started to seep back into the seams of the hexagons, and then everything returned to normal, except, that everyone was completely still. Completely silent.

Kazuto was looking at me with a dumbfound stare, as if I was the weirdest thing that was around at the moment. He looked away from me and turned to Klein.

"Klein, I'm sorry. I would offer for you to come with us, but it's really hard to get xp. I need to keep my group as small as possible." Kazuto said, apologetically.

"It's fine dude. I have some friends that I need to stick with anyway. Just stay alive you two." He responded, and walked off.

I had no idea what Kazuto was talking about. _Come with us to where?_ Kazuto grabbed my hand, and started to run in the direction of the Taizo village. That village has a lot of side quests, and xp. _Oh, I get it. By getting to the best spots first, we secure that we get stronger._ At least that was cleared up for me.

We ran for the longest time. We would encounter a monster every once in awhile, but it wasn't hard to kill them at all. Eventually we slowed down, and started walking, and out of the corner of my eye, I would see Kazuto stare at me.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked timidly. _Great, back to my shy old self. That's just wonderful._

"No reason," He said quickly. "I want to ask you something when we get to the village though"

"Why not now?"

"We need to stay focused. I want to live through this game. I refuse to die."

We got to the village fairly quickly. Kazuto and I both knew the safest paths, and fastest routes. Night had fallen, so we started looking for an inn to stay for the night. We figured out in the beta, that if you go long enough the game actually simulates sleepiness. Something about your mind actually needing to rest despite it being in a game.

The village had changed a little bit since the beta, which presented a few problems. One: Now we have no idea where the inn is located, and two: What other changes had been made to the game?

Despite the changes, we found the inn pretty quickly. We walked in, and Kazuto walk up to the NPC behind the counter.

"I'd like one room please." Kazuto said. Another thing in the beta was that each room was set up so that it could be used by more than one character. There was enough room for two people, and two bed. So I wasn't too worried about sleeping arrangements.

The NPC responded. "Absolutely sir. You'll be in room one. Enjoy your stay." He extended his hand with a key, and a confirmation window appeared in front of Kazuto.

He accepted it, and the key was transferred to his inventory. He started to walk in the direction of the room, and I followed him. We both started up the stairs, and that's when I brought up the question that he wanted to ask.

"So what is it that would wanted to ask me?" I questioned.

"Oh yeah. I was going to ask why you don't have your glasses."

 _Shit. Of all the questions he could have asked._ I wanted to lie to him so bad, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.

Before I could answer him he spoke up again. "I mean the manual said that you should leave glasses on because the scanner in the NerveGear rig will pick it up and adjust in game eyesight, as if you were really wearing glasses. The NerveGear actually uses real eyesight as your character's eyesight. So It's just weird that you wouldn't wear your glasses."

It never ceases to amaze me how much he knows. "Actually," I mumbles softly looking at my feet. "My eyesight is two times better than an average person's. The glasses that I wear are not prescription. They are made of an NXT polymer. It's a bulletproof glass. It just makes me feel protected I guess."

We arrived at the room and Kazuto unlocked the door. "Oh. Does it have something to do with the rumors at school?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I didn't really, but it is long since overdue that I talked to someone about it, and who better than the boy who I have a crush on, and who has always accepted me for who I am. "When I was really young, I was in a post office with my mom, and a man came in with a gun. I think he was on drugs or something." I started. I took a deep breath and continued. "He started swinging the gun around, and pointed it at my mom. I freaked out and bit him. He dropped his gun, and I picked it up. The first time I shot him was an accident. He was trying to wrestle the gun away from me and was pointing it at his chest. The second time was because, even after being shot, he tried to hurt me. The final time was because even after all of that… he came at me again. The third shot killed him."

By the time I had finished the story tears were running down my face like a waterfall. I had tried to hold them in, but I had never made it through the story with a counselor. Every time, I'd get to the first shot, then go into a panic attack. Somehow, I manage to tell Kazuto about the whole thing.

He let go of the door hand, which he had been standing at for the entire story, and swung around. He flung his arms around me and hugged me, firmly. It wasn't tight, or uncomfortable. It was just firm. Like he was trying to comfort me, and didn't want to let go. I hesitated a moment, and then returned the hug. We stood like that for a long while.

Finally, after my tears had stopped I let my arms fall. He pulled back slightly and grabbed my shoulders. "Thank you for telling me."

He grabbed my hand and pulled me into the room, and closed the door. Even if we were the only ones in town, that's no reason not to be cautious. I looked at the room, and instantly notice a dilemma. There was only one bed.

Kazuto turned away from the door, and noticed my discomfort. Then he took notice of the bed situation. Not that the bed wasn't big enough for the both of us, but...

The mood went from depressing to plain uncomfortable. Not that I would mind sharing a bed with him. I just don't know how he would respond.

"I'll sleep on the floor." I said, offering up the bed to Kazuto.

"Oh hell no. I'll take the floor."

"I'm not letting you do that."

"Yeah? Well I'm not letting you do it either."

"Well then what are we gonna do?"

That one got him. Or so I thought. "We… Could share it." His face had turned a dark scarlet, and mine was definitely on its way there.

"O… Okay, that works." I was definitely embarrassed, but for some reason I also felt excited.

We both turned the lights out, and climbed into bed. I felt nervous, and uncomfortable. I was looking at him from behind. His back was facing me.

He flipped himself over and looked me in the eyes. My face was definitely getting even more red. I'm glad it was dark and he couldn't see my face.

"Asada? You still awake?" He asked.

I thought of just staying quiet. After all, we were supposed to be sleeping. But my curiosity got the best of me.

"Yeah. What is it?"

"I just forgot to tell you," his voice was soft. _Is he even awake right now? Is he talking in his sleep?_ "You look even more beautiful than usual when you're not wearing your glasses. You said earlier that you aren't pretty. You were wrong thought. You're beautiful."

Now my face was probably so red that it created a whole new spectrum. _He has to be asleep right?_ "Kazuto?"

"Yeah?" His voice was till soft, but he was responding, so he had to be awake to some degree.

"Thank you. You are the nicest guy I've ever met." And with that. I dozed off into unconsciousness. To my surprise it was really easy to sleep. Easier than sleeping in my apartment. I think, that just maybe, sleeping near Kazuto, is what let me sleep so well.

My last thoughts were: _Yep, this definitely goes way deeper than a crush._

 **A/N: Dear god that was a long chapter. Hope you guys enjoyed the story, and the moments between Asada and Kazuto.**

 **Next chapter: Even more fun romance, and an funny beggining. And a quest for a rare item? Oh my! Stay tuned!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Asada's POV

The sun was shining through the window. It was an early morning light, one that is often associated with dawn and sunny weekend days. I don't know what woke me up. Whether it was the sun spilling in the window, or the warmth under me. _Wait, what?_ I opened my eyes slowly. Only to find that I was on top of Kazuto, in a rather… umm… compromising position.

I must have latched onto him in my sleep, and somehow wound up crawling on top of him. I didn't know what to do. If I moved and he woke up it could make the situation worse, but if I didn't move and he woke up, it would probably end the same way. On top of that, my face was on fire. If I wasn't completely awake before I sure was now.

I was torn between the two. _Lay on top of him until he wakes up and deal with the outcome, or try to get off of him, and risk waking him up._ I mentally debated. _Well at least if I try to get off him, there's a chance that I'll get out unscathed._ It was settled. I was going to try to get off him, without waking him up.

I started to reposition my arms on the bed, to push myself up. I just wasn't expecting my arm to still be asleep. In the end I wound up with my face mere centimeters away from his. _His face is so close to mine. His lips are so close to mine. Maybe I could just…_ I shook my head. That would be wrong. It would be taking advantage of him.

I tried to push myself up again. This time my arms held. I started to move, only to encounter another problem. When I was almost clear of him, he reached out with both arms and grabbed me. It wasn't fast, or sudden, it was lazy and slow. That still didn't stop me from being stuck in his grasp. My face had to be melting. It definitely felt hot enough.

 _Screw it._ I thought. _If every time I try to get out of it, something happens, then I'm just gonna wait until he wakes up._ _Besides, it's not like it's the end of the world. It actually feels nice to be this close to him. Now if Only I could tell him how I feel._ I was thinking a lot this morning. There wasn't exactly much more to do. Especially when I'm pinned down here with Kazuto holding me.

Unfortunately it didn't take long after my decision to just lay there, for Kazuto to wake up. He opened his eyes slowly. He looked at me, and I looked at him. We both blinked a few times, then he exploded.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry Asada! I wasn't in control of my actions, I swear!" He screamed his apology, while jumping from the bed, releasing me from his grasp.

I sat up, and looked at him. My face may have been red, but I smiled despite myself. "It's fine Kazuto. Really it is."

With this assurance he seemed to calm down quite a bit, but just a bit.

"You sure?" He asked. "I mean, I know that you're uncomfortable around people, and I don't want you to be uncomfortable around me. So if there's anything I can do to make it up to you, anything at all, just ask."

My face was probably red from the entire scenario playing out, so it might have looked like I was embarrassed or upset. Truth be told, I was a little embarrassed, but I wasn't upset in the slightest. In fact part missed the closeness. _I just wish he'd hold me like then when he's conscious._ I thought.

He still looked kind of upset, and that's when I got an idea. "Kazuto, I'm not sure if there's any way for you to make up for this." I stated. I had put on a mask of sadness, and resentment. It wasn't real of course, but he doesn't know that.

The look that his face developed, more or less, looked like someone had tore his heart out and stomped on it. It almost made me stop and re-think this prank. _Almost._

"Asada, I'll do anything, just please forgive me!" His face was just too adorable. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I burst into laughter.

His face went from worried, to confused, to realization, and then into a pout. "You were just messing with me?" He asked in the most pouty voice I had ever heard.

"Of course." I said. My laughter had faded to a small giggle. "I told you it was alright. I just thought it would be funny to mess with you."

"Well It wasn't."

"Oh I don't know, it was pretty funny."

"Was not!" His argument made him sound like a child in denial. Then again, I guess he kind of was.

"Whatever you say." I said passively, and through a huge grin.

"Come one Asada!" He whined. "Stop giving me a hard time!"

Eventually, after a bit more teasing on my part, we decided to leave the room and get something to eat. The game not only simulated fatigue, but also hunger, as well as some degree of pain. I just hope that it isn't more than in the beta. Since technically it was now a death game, it would stand to reason that you would feel a lot more pain, and it would be a lot more realistic. _I don't intend to find out though._

Lucky for us, the inn was near the town market. There, we could use the COL we had gotten from drops. The markets always have some kind of food, and in any town, there is always a special "delicacy." In the the town of beginnings it's a special bread, and here, it's a fruit that you can also get from monster in the nearby forest.

We got to the market, needless to say, bought food for our hungry stomachs. I may have gotten a little carried away though. I bought a lot more that waht we needed, and stored it all in my inventory. When Kazuto asked me what I was doing. My only response was: "Stalking up on food." He didn't question me again. Go figure, he loves his food.

"You know, while we're here, we should by some better weapons and armour. We can get better stuff from quests, but I'm not risking your life or mine. So let's get some gear, so that we can get new gear." Kazuto said as we passed a smith shop.

"You're right. If we have better gear, then it will be a lot easier to complete the quests." I agreed.

"Yeah, and besides, the gear we have on is like a login bonus. It's stats are really low, and doesn't have any special use. Just about anything would be better than what we have."

I just nodded, and veered off toward the smith shop. Kazuto followed close behind. We walked into the store, and an NPC came from the back room to greet up.

"Welcome to my shop. Please, look around. Tell me if you see something you like."

We both split walked in opposite directions. The shop was in no way small. It was jam packed with swords and other weapons. Splitting up was the only way that I could think to find anything useful. I passed longswords, rapiers, and other sword styles, as well as other weapons like hammers axes and spears. _For a game called Sword Art Online, there sure are a lot of other weapons. These aren't even all the weapons included in the game. I've seen way cooler weapons on floor eight._ I thought.

I continued my browsing. I wanted to pick a weapon that had good stats, but at the same time, I wanted a weapon that worked for me, and the kind of build I wanted. Back when the beta started, I tried to imitate Kazuto's one handed longsword technique. I liked the swords, but I couldn't help but wonder, _Is there something that would fit me better?_ After that I started thinking about how I'd spend my skill points when the game real game launched, and took to finding the best weapon for me. Broadswords were too heavy, and axes and hammers were just too slow. The closest thing I found to a weapon for me was a rapier, and the longsword. If I didn't find another weapon here, I was just going to buy one of the two.

A glint caught my eye. I turned in the direction that the reflection of metal came from. There was a long sword. Unlike all the other blades lying around the shop, this one was in a display case. On top of being a long sword, it was a longsword. It was a beautiful sword. The blade narrowed from the hilt to the tip. Not so much as to look like a rapier. The blade was too thick for that anyway, but it narrowed just enough for the final angles of the blade to be a fine point. It would be effective as a stabbing and sliding weapon. On top of that, was made up of a ring of silver thorn vines, which spiraled inward toward the handle and wrapped around it. The final aesthetic bit of the sword was the small rose that rested on the pommel. _That one!_ I thought excitedly.

I opened the display case, and opened the item's stats window. "Beautiful Thorn" It read. _Range: Short, Type: Slash, Attack: 100-120, Durability: 750, Weight: 90, Requires: 5._

Personally I was surprised a weapon like this was even in this shop to begin with. It was very strong for a level five sword, NPC shops almost never have anything worth while. I walked back to the counter, where the NPC stood, waiting for us to make a purchase. Kazuto was already up there buying a sword. It looked pretty simple, not much better than the starter sword.

I walked up behind him, and the NPC dialogue activated again. "Find something you like?"

"Yes. I'd like to buy this sword please." I said. From the looks of it Kazuto had already bought his, because the system let him sheath it.

"Very well, that will be five hundred COL."

Oh wow. I had no idea it was that expensive. I should have checked the price before I got excited. Nonetheless, a confirmation screen popped up, giving me my current balance, and what it will be after the purchase. I would be nearly flat out broke, but I needed a weapon, and I can always get more COL.

I accepted the purchase prompt, and the NPC smiled. "Thank you. Come again."

Kazuto and I turned around and walked from the smith shop. I opened my inventory and equipped a scabbard. I sheathed my new weapon, and looked at Kazto.

"So why did you buy a sword that's just as bad as the starting sword?" I asked. It had been bugging me.

"Simple." He said enigmatically. Then a grin emerged on his face. "We're gonna get the Anneal Blade."

That was an ambitious plan. The Anneal Blade was an extremely hard item to get. You have to go through a quest to collect medicinal herbs from monsters, and the drop rate is incredibly small.

"You really want to take that risk?" I asked. "I mean, I know the stats are incredibly overpowered for the level it's at, but the forest is filled with dangerous monsters, and there are no safe zones." I was really worried that if he, or I went in we might not come back out. Even if we went in together, the monster there are at a freakishly high level.

"Yeah. We got it in the beta didn't we?" He sounded so sure, but the same couldn't be said for me.

"Yes, but we also died several times. We could die again, and this time. We'd stay dead."

It was freaking me out how calmly I could make that statement. It just didn't feel real. I had accepted that it's true, and that we could die, but on some level, I think that I was in denial.

My statement seemed to have caught him off guard. "We did?"

"Yeah, like ten times."

"Oh…" He mumbled. "Well I guess we'll just have to be extra careful."

"Can we at least level up a bit before we try something like that?"

"Yeah. We'll try for it in a few day." He was smiling at first, then it quickly turned to a deep frown.

"You alright?"

"Yeah. I just realized," He started. "I really did buy this sword for nothing!"

It took several days, but we finally reached level twelve. We both decided that today would be the day that we quested for the Anneal Blade. I was nervous to say the least. _If we die, it's all over._ I thought. _No ! I refuse to let myself die. I'm gonna make it out of this game. Kazuto and I both! I would make sure he got out, even if it killed me._

"You ready to go? Got all you gear ready?" Kazuto asked from the doorway.

"Yeah. Let's go."

With that we both walked from the inn. We headed for the forest. We reached the edge. I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. _I probably shouldn't, but I'll write it off as nervous jitters._

 **A/N: I don't intend to give the Anneal Blade quest to much focus. I've seen it done too many times. However, I am going to alter the way it's completed, and I'm going to use it to set up a scene in the next chapter. Hope you like where I'm going.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Shino's POV

I can't believe that this is happening right now. I should have trusted my gut when it was telling me something bad was going to happen. Kazuto and I had just got the Nepent Flower drop for the quest, and we were on our way back to collect the reward. It was too easy, the drop rate is one in one thousand, and we got it in our first twenty. _Of course the universe just couldn't let it be easy!_

My gut was right in assuming something would happen, I just wasn't expecting something like this. On the way back, we encountered a party of players, none of which were too keen letting us keep the flower. Our encounter with them turned sour and now here we are, Kazuto and I standing side by side, parry every strike thrown at us. We didn't want to hurt them, but if this kept up, we probably wouldn't have a choice.

"Why don't you just give up the flower already!?" One of the party members argued. "Our fight is attracting the Nepents, and there are more of us than there are of you. If you give us the flower, we'll let you go, and we can both live."

 _These guys aren't afraid to kill!?_ I thought. I knew there would be players like this, but I didn't think anyone would be like this, this early on. _Don't they get it!? If you kill someone they're really dead! There are no redos. No respawns. Once someone is gone, that it._

They had a point though. Nepents were gathering around quickly. Not only that, some were the Nepents with fruit. _If one strike hits those, we'll all die either way._

I saw a gleam coming from the hand of one of our attackers. I had an idea what it was, but couldn't be sure. If it was what I think it was, and he used it, he'd be signing our death warrents

"Why is it so important to you?" I ask. "You have a large party. You could get one no problem."

The biggest guy in the party spoke up. He seemed like the leader. "A friend of ours tried to get the flower, but died in this forest. We want it because we want to honor him, but the drop rate is so low that it would just be easier to take it from you."

These people didn't seem to have any remorse whatsoever. Not only are they willing to steal, but their logic tells them that their friend would be honored that they stole it from someone else. _Then again, maybe he would._

The man with a gleaming item in his hand raised his arm. _Thought so._ I pushed Kazuto out of the way, and to the ground, just as a throwing pick flew overhead. I watched in horror. Sure I stopped Kazuto and I from taking a hit, but now the throwing pick was flying straight toward the fruit of a Nepent.

It connected, the fruit burst, and the Nepent screeched. Not good. It's screech was enough to shake anyone to the bone. The odor coming from the now decimated fruit was nauseating and made it hard to concentrate on anything else.

I scrambled to my feet as fast as I could, pulling Kazuto with me. "We have to get out of here now!" I screamed. If we didn't we'd lose all chance of escape.

I tried to pull Kazuto along and run, but these people surrounded us. _Did they not realize what just happened? What danger we're in here._ I thought. These people were either incredibly stupid, or just didn't bother to care enough about anyone's life, including their own, to let us get by and escape.

They didn't seem to care about the Nepents that were closing in from all around us, or that they were already so close that you could smell the drool coming from their mouths. They only backed off when one of their guys got swallowed by a Nepent. You could hear the reverberating sound of a scream, and the shattering of a player. The sound mimicked that of shattering glass. After so long in the game, that sound induces fear, and often times warrants a flinch

Kazuto and I took advantage in the break of their formation. We charged the Nepent, and we both attacked. The Nepent shattered, and we ran. It was a long way out of the forest, and we'd have to fight through the whole thing.

We could hear the screams of agony and the shattering of both Nepents, and players. I wanted to run back and help them, despite what they had tried to do to us. Before I had time to seriously consider the idea, all the screaming stopped. _Everyone must be dead._ I thought. It was depressing to think that their lives were thrown away for no reason, and that I did nothing to help.

We kept running, and coincidentally kept running _into_ Nepents. We would slash and hack away at them but there always seems to be more. We were starting to take some serious damage, and our health was in the yellow.

I could see a break in the trees, an end the the forest. The village was just beyond that. _We're gonna make it!_

Just as the thought crossed my mind, a Nepent lashed out at me. I wasn't fast enough to deflect the blow, but Kazuto was. He jumped in the way and blocked the blow from landing. He charged it, swung his sword, and I heard a shattering noise, but it wasn't the Nepent. It was Kazuto's sword. _No! Kazuto you idiot! Why didn't you equid a stronger sword!?_

The Nepent struck him. His health was already low when he jumped in to protect me, but now it was dangerously far into the red. Much father and I'd lose him.

In those few second, I swear, my worst nightmare was realized. I wasn't _afraid_ to die. I didn't want to of course, but I wasn't afraid of it. What scared me was losing Kazuto. I couldn't lose him. Not only has he been the best friend that I've ever had, but he's been so much more as well.

Images flashed in my mind. Images of Kazuto, from when I first met him, to now. All those good memories. Not once had he ever done anything bad to me, said anything bad to me, or even shot me a dirty glance.

I came to a realization: _I'm in_ love _with Kazuto Kirigaya!_ I thought. _And I'll be damned if I'm gonna let him slip through my fingers._ My mind was made up.

I went crazy, or at least I think I did. I don't know, it's kind of fuzzy. I attacked the Nepent screaming. "Stay away from him!"

I slashed and hacked savagely. My sword skills were charging and being executed faster than I thought possible. I wasn't going to leave a trace of this monster left. I continued my assault until it burst into a multitude of polygons.

I turned back to Kazuto. _The game simulates pain. The way it attacked him, I hope he isn't hurt too badly._ This is the most concerned I've ever been for anyone ever. I stared towards him at a crawling pace, then broke into a run. I had to see if he was alright. He hadn't burst into polygons yet, so he was still alive. _Thank god!_ When I got to him, I found that he was unconscious. _Can you even pass out in SAO? Apparently so._

I lifted Kazuto up from the ground and and supported him by leaning him on me, with his arm around my shoulders. I had to get him back to the inn as soon as possible. I started off toward the village, dragging the unconscious Kazuto with me.

I walked through the door to our room, Kazuto still support on me, and pushed him onto the bed. I quickly opened my inventory to get some healing crystals. When I found them I immediately applied them to Kazuto. The sooner his health was up, the sooner I could relax just a little. I watched his HP bar quickly spike back into the green. It lifted some of the anxiety brought on by the events of this quest.

After that I just sat there next to him, waiting for him to wake up. I didn't care how long it took. I was going to wait there until he woke up.

It didn't take long. Soon he opened his eyes and looked around, and finally rested his eyes on me.

"What…" He didn't get much out. I stopped him with a hug. It was a little awkward. He had pushed himself up to be sitting and I was hunching over to hug him, but I wasn't about to let go.

Tears started to run down my cheeks, and I started sobbing. "Kazuto! You idiot! You stupid, stupid, idiot!"

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Whats wrong!? Kazuto you almost died!" I screamed, still sobbing uncontrollably. "Kazuto, I can't lose you!"

"You won't. I can handle myself, and when I can't you'll be there to help me, and I'll always be there to help you."

"Kazuto, I almost _did_ lose you."

"Then I'll just have to get stronger."

 _Screw it._ I thought, throwing all my fears and hesitations to the wind. "Kazuto! You don't understand! I can't lose you," I started, pulling back to look him in the eyes. "Because I love you!"

His eyes grew wide, and his mouth hung slightly ajar. "You do?" He sounded surprised relieved and thankful all at once.

"Yes you idiot! I don't care if you don't feel the same way," I cried, tears flowing more freely than before. "I had to tell you…" I was cut off, by his lips being place on mine. My eyes bulged, nearly out of their sockets.

 _Oh god, oh god. Kazuto is kissing me!_ That was my last coherent thought. After that all my thoughts became unintelligible and fuzzy.

I closed my eyes and kissed him back. I melted into the kiss so easily. It was my first, but it wasn't strange. It wasn't weird. It wasn't uncomfortable. It was pure bliss.

Kazuto pulled away. "But I do feel the same way." He said, and smiled. Not his usual smirk or grin though. This was a smile filled with warmth, and love. _Why didn't I tell him this earlier?_

I brought him back into the hug that I had never fully released, and slowly got into a more comfortable position on the bed. My knees were on either side of Kazuto's legs, and my arms were wrapped around him. He returned the hug just as tightly as I was giving it.

"Kazuto? Can I sleep in bed with you tonight?"

"Sure. But why?"

We had, since the first night and bed incident, worked out a plan. It would be a waste of COL to buy another room, so we kept the same room, and after much debate, we decided to alternate turns in the bed. Neither of us were willing to let the other sleep on the floor, so he proposed that since neither of us would give up any ground in the argument, that we rotate turns in the bed. Most of the time it was my turn for the floor, I'd wake up on the bed though, and every time I try to tell Kazuto to stop he would only smirk and say, "I don't know what you're talking about." His smirk won too many arguments.

"Because, I almost lost you, and I just want to be close to you tonight." I said, still clutching him tightly.

"Yeah, alright. Let's get ready for bed though. I could really use a shower" Technically the showers didn't really do anything in the game. You never really got dirty. The Sensation Simulation engine made sure it was an amazing feeling though.

"You and me both." Only after it left my lips did I realize that it could have a duel meaning. My face grew hot and red. _I sure hope he doesn't think I meant the other thing._

"Yeah, we both deserve one with what happened today." _Oh thank god he's an ignorant boy._ I wasn't saying that he isn't smart, quite the opposite actually. What I meant was that when it comes to matters like that he can be… innocent. Then again, sometimes so was I

He got up and headed toward the bathroom. _Why does SAO even have those. The only thing they're useful for is showers._

It didn't take long before Kazuto and I had both taken showers, and were in our sleeping clothes. He seemed a little more nervous now that we were in sleepwear, but he climbed into the bed nonetheless. I followed his actions and crawled in after him. We both lied there, facing each other. I was so sure that it wouldn't be awkward, but now that I'm here I have no idea what to do.

Kazuto reached out, and wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close to him. My face burned, but it felt good being that close to him. If I said I didn't like it, I'd be a liar.

"Kazuto, I just want to tell you this again. I love you. I really do."

He smiled and pecked my lips. "I love you too Asada. Good night."

"Night."

I fell asleep peacefully with a large smile spread across my face, thinking, _Maybe being stuck in this game wasn't all bad._

 **A/N: Just a warning. There is a time frame difference due to Asada's hesitance to quest for the anneal blade. Hint's why the "killer party"s friend was dead. That's coper from the books. This is where the events of the story really start to differ.**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Shino's POV

I woke up in the middle of the night. I would say that it made me mad, but at the same time, it gave me some time to think. I was still groggy with the effects of sleep, I was almost completely ignorant of my immediate surroundings. I did, however, know where I was.

As my surroundings became more and more clear, my thoughts began to drift. They brought me to memories of my life outside of this virtual hell. I thought of that day in the post office, the look my mother had on her face, and the store clerks that were staring on in horror. Those were only the first thoughts though. Following those, came memories with Kazuto and Suguha. The best times of my life to date.

At this point I was completely awake, and fully aware of my surroundings. I was snuggled up to Kazuto on the single bed in our room at the inn. It may not have been necessary, or appropriate, but on impulse I snuggled up closer to him.

 _It's been two weeks since this death game started,_ I thought. _and not one person has made any progress in locating the boss room deep in the labyrinth._ It was hard to tell if we would ever make it out of this game, and at the moment all I could do is hope. Soon, though, I intend to change that. Kazuto and I will start exploring the labyrinth as soon as we are at a safe level.

I couldn't afford to think that we won't get out. I confessed how I felt to Kazuto, I have to get back to the real world so we can be together for real.

It wasn't that I didn't think that we weren't together here, no. It was different though. In the game, you can only be with one another to a certain extent. It isn't as _real_ as the real world. No matter how immersive Sword Art Online was, or how many sensations it could simulate, there was nothing that could top the authenticity and tangibility of the real world.

I cuddled almost impossible close to Kazuto, and began to feel the effects of fatigue taking hold on me again.

In SAO there are two primary need, sleep, and food. It was hard to justify food, but sleep made since. After all, you brain is being active wethers is the real world or virtual world.

As I started to doze off again, my thoughts faded from my mind. The only thing that was left, would stick with me. Whether we were in a battle, questing, or sleeping, it would never leave my mind. I would dream of it. It was my motivation. My true reason for beating the game. I was going to make sure that Kazuto and I made is back to the real world, so that we could enjoy our live. Who knows, maybe we'd even enjoy our live with one another.

Two weeks had passed since that night. Kazuto and I had focused on getting stronger, and upgrading our equipment. I had kept my sword the "Beautiful Thorn" and focused on upgrading that, but that's not to say I was unprepared. Just in case my sword ever broke in a dungeon, I have three more in my inventory. None of them were as good as the "Beautiful Thorn" but would help me out of a pinch if I needed it.

Kazuto and I had reached our goal in leveling, and were going to head to the labyrinth to explore when we got the news. There was a meeting about the first floor boss. Apparently someone had found it, and we were meeting to discuss strategies on how to clear the stage.

I really didn't want to go to it. Large crowds have always made me nervous, but in addition to that, beta tester get a bad reputation. Being beta testers, I wanted to avoid any confrontations with people, if at all possible. Kazuto insisted that we go through, so that's where we are headed.

When we got there, there were a lot fewer people that expected. I wasn't sure if I should be relieved or concerned. On one hand, I didn't have to deal with a crowd. On the other, if these were the only people who were going to fight the boss, we may be in trouble.

"Kazuto? Do you think these are the only people who are going to fight the boss?"

"I don't know, but if so, the raid will probably end in a disaster." He answer, only serving to solidify my unease.

"Okay people!" A loud voice rang out. "If everyone's here, we can get started! My name's Diabel, and today, my party and I found the boss room."

Murmurs spread throughout the people gathered in the pavilion. Everyone had something different to say, but the general message was always the same: Are we really going to risk our lives? You would think that after one month and two thousand deaths, people would start to get the picture. If you don't put your life on the line, we'll never get out.

Diabel started to speak again, then another voice rang out cutting him off. "Hold up a sec Diabel! I got something to say!"

We all turned to face the man who had interrupted the Diabel's speech. He was kind of short, and had some weird hair. _I wonder if that's his actual hair. I know you can dye your hair in SAO, but can you change the style?_

"First off my name's Kibou," He started, jumping step by step to the center of the pavilion, until he was right next to Diabel "and I want to point out how many people have died. Then I also want to point out that it's the beta tester fault. They took all the good xp spots, and prevented us regular guys from getting any better!"

Kibou's speech had caused a stirring in the crowd. "I say that all the beta tester should hand over all their items and give us all an apology. They left us for dead after all." He started again.

I didn't take what he said to hear. I was used to people saying much worse about me. It was Kazuto I was worried about. I could tell that Kibou's words had cut deep, and were causing Kazuto to feel guilty for something that he definitely should not feel guilty for.

I laced my fingers together with his to comfort him. It seemed to work. The pained expression on his face dulled, and some of the tension seemed to leave his body.

Just as I did this, a very large man stood. He was tall and built. If you didn't know any better you would think that he got to keep his designed avatar. He was almost way too built to be a gamer, and I'm pretty sure everyone else had the same thoughts.

"Your name's Kibou right?" The man said.

"Yeah… and you are?"

"My name's Agil." Agil turned to the crowd. "Regardless of what Kibou said, the beta tester put together this guide book," He exclaimed, raising the "Guild Book" into the air "Everyone had access to it, and even still, people died. You can't blame to deaths of those who have died on people who would not have been able to stop it either way. No one should be a scapegoat. Especially in this world. We all need to work together." He turned back to Kibou "So kindly shut up, and don't bash the beta testers." He finished, walking back to his seat.

Kibou tried not to show it, but it was obvious that he was intimidated by this Agil person. He sat down with the rest of the people gather here.

"Alright, if there are no more interruption, let's get this meeting back on track." Diabel proclaimed, frustratedly.

The rest of the meeting was essentially just a synopsis of the boss and a summary of his skills and attack patterns. In addition he explained how we were going to kill the boss. We were going to team up in parties.

Kazuto and I were going to be in a party together for sure. I wasn't about to let him out of my sight. However, everyone else had already formed parties, it was just the two of us.

We both looked around, hoping to spot a strong player who may be un-partied. My eyes came to rest on a player in a hood. I nudged Kazuto and nodded my head at the player.

Kazuto seemed to get the message, and we both walked over to them.

"Do you have a party?" I asked.

"No. I don't know anyone here, and don't have much experience in tough battles. So I figured no one would want me to join."

"Well you can join our party." Kazuto spoke up. "We don't care if you know us or not. It's always nice to make a new friend, and don't worry about the experience, I'm sure you'll do fine."

"Yeah!" I agreed enthusiastically, opening my menu to send a party invite. "Come on, we need another member for our party." I pushed the send button on the party invite.

In front of the player, who after speaking to, I found to be a girl, appeared the party invite. Her hand hesitated over the accept button, but finally pressed it. I saw a new name appear in corner of my vision. _Asuna_.

"Ok everyone! Now that we have our parties formed, let's celebrate finding the floor boss! Although, don't party too hard, and make sure to get plenty of sleep. We're gonna need it for tomorrow." Diabel spoke up

With that everyone started to disperse from the pavilion and go about their own business, but even with some people leaving, there was a vast number more that stayed to party with the crowd. Asuna however, skulked off. She seemed like the mysterious and depressed type. She didn't seem to want to be around people any more than I did, maybe even less so. I was at least going to stay to celebrate with the drinking throngs of people.

Believe it or not, the programmers of the game actually programmed alcohol into the game. It tasted like the real thing. I know this from a rather unsavory experience. When I was still living with my mom I got a bottle from the fridge. I thought it was soda, big mistake.

Last week I made another mistake. I thought that alcohol in the game wouldn't get to you, so I drank some. Some being a lot. Needless to say I won't be doing that again. They got the simulation of the effects of being drunk and having a hangover way too accurate. I don't even remember what happened that night. Although, any time I bring it up to Kazuto his face gets red, and he only says he'll tell me what happened later.

I don't know what I did, but whatever it was I want to know. I'm probably better off not knowing though.

We partied until it got late. I was talking to one of the other parties of people, discussing some good strategies, and giving some tips on how to reduce the chance of dieing in this fight, when I took notice of Kazuto. Or rather, I took notice of his absence. _Did he go to a nearby inn? There's no way he'd head out to the village again. Not with it being so far from the labyrinth._ I thought. _Did he go to find a new inn? No, he would have told me._ Now I was worried. I began to question if he had went to fight some monsters, to get some practice in before the raid. With that thought came an even greater concerned. What if he got overwhelmed?

I opened my menu, and opened my friends list. Still pretty empty.

I selected Kazuto's name, and activated the friend finder. I could see his footsteps trailing off. I was followed the path with my eyes to see where it led to, but stopped halfway. Kazuto was walking back from the direction his trail was heading toward. _Just_ what _was he doing? Where did he go?_

He wasn't in any rush to get back to the party either. He was walking at a casual pace, one that would be used to admire nature while on a walk. He smiled brightly at me, as if to say he felt proud of himself.

"Alright, what did you do now?" I asked. Any time he wears that grin he's done something.

He looked at me with mock indignation. "Shino, I'm surprised at you! Why do you assume that I did something wrong?"

"Because normally, when you have that smile, you did." I deadpanned.

Kazuto shrugged his shoulders. "Eh... That's fair. I promise I didn't do anything bad this time though."

He never dropped the grin. This time I opted to trust him. _He may not have done anything wrong, but that doesn't mean he didn't do anything._ As long as it didn't backfire on him or I then I'd let him keep his secret.

The party didn't last much longer. Not for us anyway. It was getting dark out, and we needed to rest up for the boss raid. Kazuto and I bought a small room in an inn, in the starting town. That way, we could wake up and be ready to go.

When we walked in the room, I was both relieved and discontented. Unlike the last time when we bought a room, this room had more space, and two bed. I would never say it out loud, and especially not to Kazuto, but I enjoyed sleeping next to him. Then again that is pretty obvious isn't it.

We woke up that morning, pumped up for the boss fight. Personally I'm surprised that we even slept at all. We were headed out right now to meet with the other parties and raid members. When we got there they seemed just as pumped up as Kazuto and I were.

 _I wonder where Asuna is._ I thought. She should be here. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned around. _There she is._ She was still wearing the hood, which threw me off a bit. It wasn't exactly a useful piece of equipment. At this low level it didn't even give stat boosts or special skills. All it could do was hide your appearance.

Diabel spoke up "Alright everyone let's move out."

 _Already? We were early, and we just got here._ With that, the groups started marching in tow with Diabel.

We marched for at least an hour, but we finally made it to the labyrinth. As we entered, and climbed to the top, where the boss room is, we did not encounter a single monster.

So here we stood. In front of the boss room. All the prior boasting and confidence vanishing, and turning to fear and uncertainty.

"Allright! I have one thing to say! Lets win!" Diabel shouted.

It wasn't much but it was enough. Enough to rally the raid parties moral. He pushed the door open, and our battle began.

The dark walls became alight with an array of vivid colors. It would have been beautiful, if not for the giant Kobold standing in the middle of the room with a giant axe and buckler, and the Kobold minion spawning rapidly around it. "Illfang The Kobold Lord"

Four health bars appeared around this beast, and Diabel screamed again "Charge!"

We all ran in, Diabel shouting orders to direct us on what to do. My party was mainly charged with taking care of the minions, while most of the other parties had something to do with the boss. Whether it be a line of tanks or an assault team.

We continued on like this for what felt like forever. We could feel the effects of long battling starting to wear on us all. Thankfully, the bosses health was in the red on the final bar. Illfang threw down his axe and buckler and went for the sword on his back.

Diabel charge forward. "Stay back! I've got this!" He was charging the boss.

Something wasn't right, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Kazuto got it before I did. "Diabel wait!" He screamed. The sheer urgency of his voice was enough to make Diabel stop in his tracks. But by that time it was too late.

Illfang had launched himself to the pillars high above our heads, and landed several strikes on Diabel. He went flying. I went to support everyone while Kazut tended to Diabel. I don't know how long Kazuto was taking with him but Asuna and I were starting to have a hard time.

"Asuna!" her head snapped in my direction. "We need to finish the boss. The longer this fight goes on the more people are going to get hurt." She nodded affirmatively.

Just then, I heard a sound that resembled glass shattering. My eyes grew wide. I finished off the Kobold that was currently occupying my fighting, and turned to Kazuto. He was coming out of a kneeling position. Never in the time that I had been with Kazuto had I ever seen his face bear such a dark expression. He ran over to Asuna and I.

"Sinon, Asuna, we need to finish this." He said it so level headedly that you wouldn't think that this was any real threat.

He charged the boss. I followed, and shortly after that Asuna followed me. We fell into a pattern of constant switches, and attacks. Kazuto jumped to use the slash skill.

What was unexpected was that the boss had learned his pattern. It countered his slash and got a hit on him. He went flying. It was like reliving that terrible night two weeks ago all over again.

I ran to him. I had to heal him. His health bar had stopped depleting but he still needed it nonetheless. The boss was on top of us in seconds, ready to deliver the finishing blow that would erase us from this world and the real world forever.

Just as Illfang started to bring his sword down, the big man: Agil, blocked the blow with his great axe.

"You guys get ready to kill the boss. Get your health back, and do anything you can to boost your damage."

"Alright." I said. "Thank you!"

He simply nodded.

Asuna was helping support the group's holding off the boss.

"Shino." I whipped my head back to Kazuto. "I can finish him in one attack. I just need you to help me get into position."

I nodded. I was ready to help him with anything, but the moment that it looks like he could get hurt, I'm pulling him out.

He got up and we both charged at the boss. I distracted him, just as Kazuto had planned. He jumped this beast from behind. Just as he did that, Illfang's eyes lit up. He whipped around and was about to slash Kazuto. I could see every small movement of the bosses sword skill

I wasn't about to have even a slight repeat of that time. I dashed up to the exposed Illfang's back. He once again whipped around. His deadly sword skill being used to deflect my own. _Does this boss just have a counter ability or something._ Kazuto, who had still yet to use his fully charged sword skill, got the opening he needed. He activated his "Spiral Drive" skill.

His sword became deeply embedded in Illfang's large stomach. He started to drive the sword all through Illfang's body, in a spiral motion. _So that's what that skill means._

The boss hit the ground, the last of it's health disappearing. He bounced into the air, streams of light protruding through his body. The boss exploded, and the "Congratulations!" announcement appeared in its place.

Everyone was silent for a short span. Then all at once, the raid party burst into cheers, and celebrations. We had made it through a boss battle with only one casualty. That was pretty good for a boss raid.

Kazuto stood there, staring at some announcement that had appeared in front of him after defeating the boss. I walked closer to him, and grabbed his shoulder.

"You alright?" I asked.

Before he got a chance to respond, Kibou spoke up. "Stop! You shouldn't be cheering! Not for the like of him! You were a beta tester weren't you?" He started. "Why'd you do it? Why'd you let Diabel die?! You knew about the boss! You could have saved him! You and all the other beta testers should just go and kill yourselves!"

His long proclamation, and accusations caused a silence to fall over the raid party.

I saw the look in Kazuto's eye. It was one of pure rage. It flickered to life right around the time Kibou made the comment out suicide. He took a deep breath, and I grabbed his arm.

"Don't do anything stupid." I whispered.

"Beta tester? Ha! Don't make me laugh. I'm worlds better than those noobs. I was the number one in the beta. I soloed bosses on floors loads higher than this. It's an insult to call be a beta tester."

"If that's the case," Kibos shrieked "Then you're a goddamn cheater! A beta tester and a cheater!"

Someone from the raid party spoke up. "He's a Beater!"

I was at a loss for words. I didn't know how to go about defending the beta tester. Or that I even had the right to. I was one after all.

"Yeah… A beater, I like it! Just don't bunch me in together with those beta noobs." He said, accepting and equipping his new time "Coat Of Midnight"

Someone else from the raid party spoke up. "And what about that girl that's alway with him. I'll bet that she's a beta tester too!"

Kazuto stopped in his tracks. I couldn't see his face, but I'm sure that that comment made him upset for some reason. Then it hit me. _He was gonna leave me behind! He didn't want anyone to know about me, so that he would be the only one taking any heat._

I walked up to Kazuto and slapped him. "That was for trying to leave me behind."

The look of guilt on his face was enough to make me regret slapping him.

He started to walk to the exit once again. Only this time. I followed him. I wasn't about to let him leave me. He didn't try to stop me.

Asuna watched us walk off, not making the slightest attempt to go after us. She stood there. _I sure hope she doesn't hate us now, she would make a strong ally._

When we were a decent ways up the stairs that would take us to the second floor, and no one from the boss room could see us, I grabbed Kazuto by the collar of his new coat and pulled face to mine "I slapped you for trying to leave me." I started "But this is for you trying to protect me, and do what's best for me." With that I kissed him on the lips. It was short but sweet.

I pulled away and smiled briefly. Very briefly, my face quickly contorted into a scowl.

"But it you ever try something like that again, monsters and bosses will be the least of your worries." I threatened. Obviously it was more for scaring him than anything, I couldn't hurt him, ever.

"Yes ma'am!" He said.

I smiled again, and we both continued on our way to the second floor. When we got there the first order of business was to find some place to sleep. Now that Kazuto was public enemy number one, he doesn't think it's a good idea to stay in an inn close to the main town.

We walked all the way to the next village over, just as we did on the first floor. We rented a room. This room, just like the one on the first floor, had one bed. Kazuto justified it by saying that we needed to save coal, and it just keeps getting more expensive as the floor number rises. I didn't ask for an explanation. I think that was just his way of trying to say "I'm not some pervert"

Now we are on the second floor, going to bed, awaiting the morning. Everything will change starting tomorrow. _One floor down, ninety nine more to go._


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Shino's POV

Kazuto and I had been spending a lot of time leveling and questing on the second floor. If I was being totally honest, this floor didn't even challenge us at all. We spent so much time on floor one leveling and upgrading our gear, that we were many level's ahead of the floor monster. I tried to tell Kazuto that we didn't really need to level on several occasions. He always just told me that we need to stay ahead of the game, stay above the monster levels so that we can stay alive.

He is definitely right about staying ahead. The farther ahead of the monster we stayed, the easier it will be to survive. Unfortunately, you don't get much experience from monsters if they are a lot weaker than you. This rule made it really hard to continue leveling on this floor, but we managed nonetheless.

When we weren't killing monsters, or questing for rare items, we spent our time leveling our skills. It was a unique system to games. Kazuto told me that in games like this you would usually have to get skill points to increase a skills effectivity. Whereas in this game you could just use your skills to improve their efficiency. That's not to say that it was easy. You had to spend a lot of time to get it to improve, it was incredibly tedious.

Regardless, Kazuto and I were never off the clock. We spent every waking moment of our days improving, and if we weren't, we were asleep.

In the simplest way of putting it, Kazuto and I are probably the two most proficient, and the two most powerful players in SAO.

Everyone else who trained, worked hard to level, and were dead set on finishing the game, were good, yes. They were powerful, yes. But none of them trained as hard or long as we did. They would all farm for a few days, working to get stronger, and then they'd take a much deserved, and a much needed mental intermission.

We didn't take those breaks. I wouldn't tell kazuto, but honestly, I felt as though I needed a break. I could tell that I was quickly approaching my mental breaking point, and that's saying something considering my life prior to this point.

I couldn't understand how Kazuto stayed so calm and collected. It was lost to me. So I decided to ask.

We had just gotten back from farming in the labyrinth. At this point, even the monsters in there (Which were far stronger that the monsters all over the fields.) weren't a challenge for us. I think that the boss would barely present a challenge for just the two of us. It was just a matter of finding the boss room.

I decided to ask him now. No time better than the present. "Kazuto? How do you stay so calm? How have you not had a breakdown? We never stop!"

He looked at me, and nearly ever present smile he has on his face fades. "I don't."

All I could do was stare at him. Had I heard right? He doesn't hold it together? "What do you mean. You never stop smiling, and you seem so calm and collected?!"

"What I mean is: I may seem calm, but I'm raging inside." His voice broke. "I'm on the verge of insanity. Every day, I wake up wonder, will I live or will I die. Thinking will _you_ live or die."

I could see the pain in his eyes. Every ounce of fear and pain that he had kept hidden, bottled up inside, was spilling out. I could tell he had more to say, so I waited.

"Every day, in every battle, I'm thinking; Will I ever see my sister again? Will I ever see my mom again? Will this be my last day?" his voice was barely above a whisper, and he had tears running down his face.

"What keeps you going? How do you manage to keep going?" I asked.

A shadow of his former smile appeared on his face. "For starters, I have you. You are probably my greatest motivation for living. Other than that, I assure myself that all my fears are futile. No point in fearing something that you have control over preventing. The last thing that I do, is I fight, not physically, but mentally. I refuse to let this world claim me when I have so much I want to do, so much I want to see, and so many people I _have_ to see again."

It was a long speech, but it was deep nonetheless. It put a lot into perspective for me. He doesn't push through because he's strong, he pushes through because, to him it was the only way he would get to see his family again. He's probably right too.

"Kazuto…" I couldn't find any words. I wanted to say something that would reassure him. Comfort him. "You will get to see your family again. I promise."

His smile once again showed up on his face, but this time it didn't quite fit. It was like trying to fit a puzzle piece where it doesn't belong. His attempt at a happy smile was thwarted by the rest of his face being contorted in an image of sorrow.

"Thank you Shino."

It had been a few days since my questioning of Kazuto. Eight days since getting to the second floor, and the boss room had been found already. We were having a strategy meeting in the main town of the second floor. Not much different from our first boss escapade.

We were all gathered in a small chapel, surrounding a table. The people planning what strategy to use were blabbing on and on about shield, defense, offence, and switches.

The meeting was pretty early, and I had a feeling that was because they planned to raid the boss that day. I was all for it. The faster we clear floors, the faster we can get home to the real world.

I wasn't interesting in anything that the strategist had to say. Odds are when it came to it, no one would stick to the plan. If they did, then kudos to them, but honestly, most of the people here didn't have enough experience to get a well organized plan. It would take a few more floors before anyone could stick to something organized.

The meeting came to an end, and just as I predicted, we headed out toward the boss room.

"Alright everyone! Let's get to floor three!" The apparent leader of the head party shouted.

It reminded me a lot of the way Diabel acted. I may not have known him well (Or at all.) but losing someone like him was a loss for everyone, regardless whether you knew him well or not.

We started out toward the labyrinth pillar that held the stairs to the third floor. On the way there, there was no conversation. There was no noise other than that from the game's "Sound Effects" Cracking twigs, the sound of swaying grass, and insects.

When we got to the boss's door, everyone was on edge. On this door, in contrast to the last, there was a certain texture. This texture caused shadows all over the door. It was a work of art that was all too terrifying. The shadows formed an image, the image of a bull charging at armour clad warriors.

Still yet no one spoke. No one had anything encouraging to say, nor anything worth saying. It was so much unlike the first boss rade. We pushed the door open, and scanned the room for the boss. It was abnormally dark, the only thing that we could see were the small alcoves lining the walls.

Flames started to light in the alcoves, illuminating the room. Once all the pyres were lit, the

Boss was plainly visible. There in the middle of the room stood a bull. That much was predictable from the mural on the door. What was not as predictable was what came next. The bull started to rise, It was climbing onto two humanoid feet. It wasn't a bull. It was a minotaur.

The boss's name appeared, "Baran The General Taurus" followed his health bars, four in all. It was an enormous beast. It was muscled beyond any other monster that we faced in the past, and wielded a weapon to show it. His weapon was an enormous war hammer. The hammer itself seemed to be made from steel, but was lined with gold.

The strategist that had gone over the plan started barking orders. "Party four, flank right. Party five flank left. Party two and three, attack forward."

We were in party one. This is what they were calling the reserve party. _The beater party._ I thought bitterly. _Sure we're beta testers, but that doesn't mean we're cheaters. That we're beaters._

Essentially the entire party was filled with players that were strong, and were accused of being beta testers or cheater. The entire point of the party was to only use it if they needed it, and to prevent the beta tester's from gaining more xp and equipment.

All the parties started doing as they were instructed, which was actually a big surprise to me. I figured that this organization was not possible this early on. The forward line started their assault, only to be slammed aside by the boss's warhammer. In one swipe he had completely displace the frontal assault, leaving a hole in the formation.

He charged right through that gap, right toward my party. We all had to dive out of the way to avoid being impaled on his horns.

I heard Kazuto scream my handle. "Sinon, this boss has a unique aggro code. He targets the strongest players present, forcing them to stay on the defensive, preventing him from taking much damage." He explained.

I thought back to the beta. This boss was pretty much the same as it was in the beta, although, I couldn't shake the feeling that something about it was different as well. Just as Illfang's battle was different, I had a nagging feeling that this one had a surprise too.

Kazuto continued his explanation, "If we keep him distracted and alternate attacking, as well as have the other parties switch in, we could have this wrapped up in no time."

The boss's charge ended when he hit the wall. You would figure something running into a wall with the force of a bullet train would be rather disorienting, but no. Rather than acting dazed the beast only seemed to become enraged. He turned back to our party and huft.

Kazuto and I put his plan into action. We flanked the monstrosity in front of us, pulling his attention to the two of us. _If this works like it should, then the fight won't last long._

The boss was primarily facing Kazuto, and I took that as an opening. I jumped onto the bull's back and stabbed the "Beautiful Thorn" Into it's back. I dragged the blade from the back of it's neck, all the way past it's shoulder blade.

Considering it's a boss, it actually did a hefty sum of damage. _Did our training really pay off that much?_ I mentally pondered.

The boss roared in rage and spun around to face me, giving Kazuto the chance he needed to attack. He charge in low, activating a skill that I had only seen him use a handful of times, and when he did, it was always terrifying. Then again, the situations that he used it in were also terrifying. The sword skill was "Blade Storm" a high in ability that was only attainable through a quest on the second floor, but that is a story for another time.

His blade started to glow a bright hue, when the skill finally activated, his sword moved almost on its own, slicing in an almost endless repetition of assaults. The boss's health was definitely going down fast. It made me nervous. This was way too easy.

The beast roared once again, having completely lost it's first of four health bars.

Our assault, having renewed moral, amongst the other parties motivated them to charge as well. The boss was so focused on killing Kazuto and I that it almost completely ignored the other players, unless they did a decent sum of damage, then he would swing wildly at them.

The boss quickly reached its final health bar, normally where their specialty skill would activate, but nothing happened, the battle just continued.

In the end it was some guy from party four that landed the finishing blow. "Yes!" He screamed. "Hold on, where's the xp? The special item?"

Everyone looked around as if to ask: Did you get anything? But no one did. We were all empty handed.

He all started to head toward the stairs to the third floor. This was weird. No drops? No way this is right. _It didn't even tell us congratulations. Is it a glitch?_ When we got to the door, it wouldn't open. _Is it possible that..._ I heard a noise from behind us. The countless polygons that the boss had shattered into were converging in the center of the room. Word's appeared in my vision. "Boss Skill: Endless Rage"

When the words disappeared, the boss was once again standing in the center of the room. It's finally health bar had refilled itself. This was bad. We don't know what triggered the skill, how to counter it, or how many times that it would happen.

We all rushed back out to confront the boss, we couldn't let him attack first this time.

The boss just stood there, unmoving. The only difference was the color of his eyes, instead of a bright yellow, they were a dark glowing red. Party three and for let out a battle cry and charge. As soon as they were within ten meters of it, the boss raised his hammer once again hitting them all. Only this time he did twice the damage, both parties that charge had their health bars in a low red position.

The boss moved with speed beyond what should have been possible for a monster his size. Within seconds he was on top of the parties that charged him. He raised his hammer and started aggressively smashing away at each individual player that was down.

In this rage, the boss killed four people. People that would never again see the real world, people that were gone forever.

People started screaming, and panicking. "Screw this!", "I don't want to die!", "I'm getting out of here!" were all you could hear from anyone. Many of the remaining party members started to use their (very expensive) teleport crystals to flee the battle. We were losing numbers fast.

Kazuto and I were pretty much the only really strong players left. We took the initiative from there. We charge the boss again. Switching in and out, to attack and defend. It was significantly harder to kill the boss this time. It took a combo of another one of kirito's skills "Arch-Solidus" and my own, "Spin Razor"

When I landed the final blow on the boss and he exploded into polygon, so too did my favorite sword. This time however, a congratulations message was displayed, and I got a message, much like Kazuto did last time. "Final Attack Bonus"

I looked around at the people still present after the fight. Many of them were sprawled out on the ground from being hit by the boss. It made me feel guilty, two floors, and two special drops, both of which end up with Kazuto and I. At this rate, we _are_ going to be selfish beta testers.

Regardless, I accepted the bonus. A new item alert appeared in front of me "Tranquil Katana" I accepted it. I couldn't help but laugh to myself and the irony in the item. We fought a raging beast, and I get a tranquil blade.

I equipped the sword, and it materialized in my hand. I inspected it closely. The handle was wrapped in an aqua blue cloth, with gold handle decorations. The blade was longer that a typical Katana, and was engraved with a beautiful calligraphy that read "Subete ga ushinawa reta yo ni mieru toki, anata wa itsumo anata no mawarinohito-tachi ni kibo o mitsukeru koto ga dekimasu" It was so finaly engraved on the blade. It was a beautiful weapon, and that's what worried me. Decorated weapons were never very durable and were definitely not as effective.

I opened the item's stats window and was shocked. For such a decorated weapon, it's stats were off the chart. There was no level restriction, and the stats on the sword were far beyond any other weapon that I'd ever seen in the game, even on floor eight in the beta test.

I looked at Kazuto, whose jaw was hanging open at the sight of the stats on my new sword. _Just wait until I upgrade it to level 10. This could easily carry us through countless floors._

"Wow Shino," he whispered. "With a sword like that, you could kill a floor boss solo."

I looked back at the sword, and I slashed with it a few times, as well as tried some basic sword skills. It was really light, and very fast. Altogether this blade was almost too overpowered.

"I would never try something that reckless- you on the other hand, I could totally see you trying to solo a boss."

We both started to walk toward the stairs to the third floor. "Then you'll just have to save me from myself." He said, trying to lighten the mood. We had just watched four people die, and we were in desperate need of a lighter mood.

"Kazuto," I whispered, making sure that no one could hear his real name. "I want you to promise me that you will never do something that reckless." I must have sounded pretty worried, because he laced his fingers together with mine.

"I promise." He stated simply as we climbed the stairs to the third floor.

 **A/N: I used a translator for it, but loosely "Subete ga ushinawa reta yo ni mieru toki, anata wa itsumo anata no mawarinohito-tachi ni kibo o mitsukeru koto ga dekimasu" is japanese for "When all seems lost, you can always find hope in those around you"**

 **Also, feel free to leave a review, visitor or not. I love feedback.**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Shino's POV

We were currently on the tenth floor, the highest floor that has yet to be cleared up to this point. It's been about two and a half months since the second floor was cleared. It took about nine days each to defeat the bosses on the floors to get here. Each floor would only get harder and harder. The bosses didn't make small leaps in stats either. It started with the floor three boss "Narius The Evil Treant" who was leagues above what he should have been. After that, the bosses increased at a pretty steady rate. "Wythege The Hippocampus", "Ignatius The Howling Qilin", "Gaius The Primordial Cyclops", "Ibis The Insatiable Tengu", "Fabia the Ravenous Harpy", and "Gundalf The Malevolent Lich" were all hard to beat, but we didn't lose anyone to those battles. People finally got the hang of the game's strategy and started to fight like pros. The death rate is way down.

Kazuto and I are running from a large group of "Malevolent Grendels" In small numbers, they are easy to handle. They are like small goblins, no large amount of strength or speed. The only problem is that when you attack one, you draw aggro from any others that are in the same field, and these fields are huge. However, they drop "Grendel Leather", which is a high-end material that can be used to make some of the best armor on the tenth floor.

Kazuto and I decided to take the risk and went grendel hunting. We got a few pieces of leather before we were nearly completely surrounded.

Like I was saying, in small numbers, they are no problem. It's when there are a bunch of them that the damage and danger start to add up.

Anyhow… here we are running for our lives. "Remind me why I let you talk me into this!" I shouted, breathing heavily from our continuous running.

"What are you talking about!?" He shouted back all the while laughing, and grinning humorously. "You were the one who suggested it."

"I most certainly was not!" I shouted back. I knew he was doing it just to get a rise out of me- and it was working.

He just laughed. He laughed while we were genuinely running for our lives. _Who can be in is a situation like this and laugh?_ I thought. The answer: Kazuto Kirigaya.

The grendels were slowly but surely falling further and further behind us, but we couldn't stop. If we did, they would be on top of us within seconds.

All we had to do was make it back to the room that we rented, or to one of the safe-zones, and we'd be home free. The only problem is that whenever we would get close to one of the safe-zones, grendels would appear almost out of nowhere, in front of us. We've had to change direction several times, to find a different safe-zone.

We've been redirected several times as it is, and to the best of my knowledge, we have ended up in an unmapped, and probably completely unexplored part of the floor. This would present a problem. If we got lost we'd have no way to have our gear repaired, nor would we have any way to get more food.

We kept running and running. We are obviously getting close to the edge of the floor. We are definitely lost now, and it would take us a little while to find our way back, but that was only the start of the bad news. We hit a cliffside, that descended into a chasm. We had nowhere else to run, and the grendels were still pursuing us.

Kazuto was frantically looking for a way to escape the situation, while I was prepping my primary sword: "The Reprimander", I was ready for a fight. Even if there was little to no chance of making it out alive, I was going to fight.

All of the sudden Kazuto grabbed me around the waist, and I shrieked in surprise. "What the hell!"

He pulled me off the cliffside, and we fell a few meters. We came to a stop not long after what surely would have been a swan dive. Kazuto had stabbed his "Anneal Blade" into the cliffside, holding on tightly to the handle to support the weight of the both of us.

Had this been the real world, this wouldn't have worked at all. His sword would have made it deep enough to support one person's weight let alone two. Also, his grip wouldn't last long, even if his sword was capable of holding us up his grip would not have held out.

I clung to Kazuto. If I fell from this height, I'd end up being flatter than a pancake. Even in the virtual world, there are limitations on how far you can fall.

The grendels poked their heads over the cliffside but did not make any attempt to follow. We hung there for two, three, four minutes, waiting for any action by the grendels. To my surprise, they started to disappear one by one. They were roaming away from us. _The aggro must be wearing off._ I thought

"Kazuto? Mind explaining why they didn't follow us over the cliffside?" I questioned.

"Yell there's a physics engine in this game right? If that's the case, then going over the edge of a chasm would have a "gravity" effect, where everything falls. The monsters don't know how to climb or scale things. Unlike us, they are confined, not by the game's limitations, but by the limitations of their code." He explained.

"That's all well and good… but how did you know they couldn't climb?"

His face got a little paler, and he started to look a little nervous. "That's not important right now. What's important is getting back to a safe zone."

"You had no idea that this would work did you?" I deadpanned.

"Eh... " He wasn't reassuring me. "No, I didn't."

I looked at him in agitation, then I heard something heart-wrenching. I heard the cracking of stone and the scrape of a metallic blade against rock. _Oh no!_ I thought. Kazuto's sword must have slipped from its place in the cliffside. We began to fall again.

To my surprise, Kazuto did not let go of me, he held me tighter. I knew that I was squeezing him harder, but hey, we were falling to our deaths.

We came to a jolting stop again and I opened my eyes, which had been tightly squeezed shut, up to that point.

We were probably only a meter from the bottom of the chasm, hanging there. I let go of Kazuto, and jumped to the ground. He followed and pulled his sword from its place in the cliffside.

We were stuck in a huge chasm with no way out. It was unexplored and was a potential hazard for players, so going on probably wasn't a good idea. Unfortunately, it was about the only option we had. So we walked along the bottom of the chasm for an hour, looking for any way out.

"Hey Shino, come look at this!" Kazuto called from the other side of the monstrous ditch.

I walked over to where he was standing. "What is it? Did you find some way out?" I inquired.

"Well, I found something. I don't know if it's a way out, but it's worth looking into. I think it's a dungeon." he explained

"You want to go into a dungeon with just the two of us? Have you lost your mind?!" I nearly shouted at him.

"Yeah…" he started. "You're probably right. The only thing is, what if that gives us the way out? Think about it. If there's an entrance to a dungeon down here, with no other way out, then that's probably our best bet."

I couldn't argue with him there. If there was no way out other that the dungeon entrance, then we didn't have much choice. I was a bit more than a little skeptical of our situation.

"Okay… Alright, we'll look around in there, but if we encounter something even a little too challenging, we get out. If something is challenging, the boss is bound to be ten times more so." I said.

"Agreed. I didn't feel like dying today anyway." He stated

I spun on the balls of my feet and started walking in the direction of the dungeon entrance. It almost looked like the entrance to a mine shaft, only it's supports and framework made it look more like an ancient Japanese palace. I don't mean to say that it actually looked like a palace in structure, no this was a cave, big difference. I meant that they were alike in design.

Kazuto followed close behind me. He had his sword out and looked like he was ready to fight. It would be a shame if he wasn't, these dungeons are notorious for being filled with high leveled monsters. In fact, I think that we've lost more players to these kinds of dungeons, than we have to floor bosses, and field monsters combined.

We walked into the cave and received a message, but it was more of a warning. "The monsters in this dungeon are powerful! Are you sure you wish to proceed?"

Since Kazuto and I are partied together, if one of us were to select "Yes" it would apply to the both of use. I took the liberty of selecting yes. The messages didn't hold much weight anymore. What is powerful for the floor or to another player, for the most part, wasn't powerful against Kazuto and me.

Torches started to light along the wall of the tunnel. They continued lighting until they reached the end of the tunnel, where it veered off, and we couldn't see any further. It was, for some reason, very nerve racking. Not being able to see beyond a certain point just added a certain underlying tone of terror.

We continued on our way down into the cave, weapons at the ready. We reached the end of the tunnel, or at least we reached the turn at the end of the cave's initial entrance.

The first monster that we found was right around the corner, waiting to jump us. It was a "Noble Reptile": essentially just a big lizard with a naginata, a weapon used by high ranking officials and samurai.

It turned toward us and charged. It was slow for a tenth floor monster and was not hard to evade. Kazuto dodged to the right and I to the left. I let out a slash on the reptile's back, and its health bar dropped by half. This really surprised me. This thing was weaker than the grendels, who were only a threat in large number.

Kazuto finished it off with a decisive stab through the heart.

That reminds me. There are several critical points of contact in the game's combat system. If you strike the heart or the head of an adversary, it results in a critical hit. Critical hits deal double the damage of a regular hit, so it's always a good idea to aim for those critical points. There are also several other critical points. Unfortunately, these are a lot harder to hit. It would involve getting close enough to get a precision hit in vital organs, and even then the anatomy of a monster changes for each kind of monster.

When the reptile burst into countless polygons it didn't leave behind any drops, and not much COL. _Maybe it will be a lot easier to get out of here than I thought._ I thought to myself.

We continued on further, encountering a few monster every now and then. Much like we expected, they got stronger each time. None of them have presented a challenge though. I couldn't understand it no matter how hard I tried. Even if they have been getting progressively stronger, not a single one of them presented a challenge on their own. It wasn't even that hard to beat two at once.

We have been walking in the tunnel for a while now and have probably killed at least fifty enemies. We saw an opening at the end of the tunnel. When we got to it, we looked out into a large cavern with an actual temple smack dab in the middle of it. In front of that temple sat someone or something in samurai armor.

Kazuto started to walk down the stone carved steps that went down to the floor of the cavern, and I grabbed his sleeve. "Are you sure about this? Something seems off to me." I inquired.

"Yeah. It seems like that's an NPC to me, and even if it's not no monster in this dungeon has been challenging at all. So even the boss won't be that strong. Besides, I have you to back me up." He affirmed confidently.

I let go of his sleeve and followed him down the stairs. _Why does he always insist on doing stupid things_? I thought.

When we got in front the samurai clad entity, I found out it was a lot larger than I though. About three meters tall, at least. It jumped to its feet faster that we could blink, and three health bars appeared. _Shit_. "Deus The Dishonored Samurai"

How did I know that Kazuto's decision would end up getting us into trouble? The boss started to gain an aura, something that only happened when a boss had a special skill. A message appeared in our vision, much like some of the boss fights on the floors prior to this one. It read: "Collect Of The Fallen"

"Oh shit!" Kazuto screamed.

"Gee, you think!" I rarely ever heard Kazuto say a swear word, and when I did it was bad. In fact, I don't swear that often, but in comparison with Kazuto, I have a potty mouth. "I take it you know what this skill does?!"

"I have an idea, and it's bad." He started. "Why do you think the enemies before were so easy to kill?"

"You mean that all those monster we killed…"

"Are headed straight for the boss, and it's gonna be one hell of a power up." He finished for me.

The boss hissed and charged with a nearly unimaginable speed. We had to jump out of the way just to avoid the attack. Even with its speed, it seemed that recover faster than we could. As soon as it had steadied itself, it drew a long blade, an Odachi.

"Kazuto, do you think we'd be able to make it out of here if we ran for the entrance?" I asked.

"Probably not. It's fast enough to cut us off if we make a break for it, and I really don't want to find out how much of a strength bonus it got from that skill."

"I was afraid of that…"

The reptilian samurai charged again and prepared a sword skill. This attack was going to be a lot harder to avoid than the previous charge. I slid to the side, narrowly avoiding the swing of the sword skill. The sword embedded itself in the wall, and when the boss ripped it out, water sprayed from the walls and covered the reptile. It roared, almost as if aggravated.

Its next attack was a lot more sluggish that the first two and was significantly easier to dodge. After the third dodge, I figured it out.

Cold blooded animals need an external source of warmth to keep their body temperature regulated. When they are too cold, they become slow, and in some extreme cases, they die.

"Kazuto. Put out the torches. I have an Idea." I yelled, taking out some of the small "throwing picks" If my guess was right then we would have an easy time with this boss after all.

I took aim and hit the top of the cavern, the rock crumbled, but nothing else happened. _Come on! Maybe the throwing picks aren't enough…_ I thought.

Kazuto was busy running around putting out as many of the torches as he could, but it only seemed to anger the boss. At this point though, it was a bit too sluggish to land a hit on Kazuto. He had just finished putting the last fire out when the boss almost managed to land a hit.

Narrowly evading the strike, Kazuto screamed. "Care to tell me what the plan is?"

"Eh… distract him?" Honestly, I was banking on the ceiling caving in.

"You mean you didn't have a plan up to this point?!"

"I did… then the plan changed!" I shouted back. I probably came off a little more snarky than I need to, but I was frustrated.

 _Wait a minute…_ I thought. _All the torches are out. So why is there still light in here?_ I looked around for the source. I saw a small stream running down the wall of the cave, and from the top, there was a minute bit of light. _Bingo!_

I took another pick and aimed right under where the stream should run. I threw it, and it flew. The whizzing noise created from my high dexterity stat was satisfying, to say the least. The pick landed in the ceiling, and you could hear the cracking.

"Kazuto, lure him there!" I shouted point in the direction of the now cracking rock.

His eyes lit up as if he understood the entire plan in those few seconds. He did as he was told and lured the boss right under the cracking stone. As soon as the boss was under it, the rock crumbled and fell on top of the boss. It lost a hefty sum of health. The water from the stream started flowing over the rock.

The boss burst out from the rock. It may have lost a lot of health, but it wasn't down for the count. It now was down one health bar and had some strange poison effect draining its health.

Kazuto and I continued our assault on the boss, continuously switching until the boss's final health bar was in the red, and it was about to shatter into a frenzy of polygons.

Kazuto dove in for the final attack and stabbed at the beast's throat. His sword went right through, and the boss went limp. It took a few second, but it finally burst into nonexistence.

Kazuto walked back to me, and we both fell on our back, into the water pooling around us. Soon this entire cavern would end up underwater I was laying across from Kazuto, and I turned my head to look at him.

"Next time, let's both agree to ignore your ideas." I deadpanned. Truth be told, I didn't even know if I was serious at this point. We may not have taken too much damage from that battle, but it was extremely exhausting nonetheless.

"Agreed." He responded.

I turned my head back up to the ceiling. "We should really get out of here and to the inn. It's getting dark."

"Yeah." he said simply.

We both climbed to our feet and leaned on one another's shoulder for support. We were like that all the way to the inn. I would not be surprised if everyone thought we were drunk.

 **A/N: There is a special Easter one shot that I have written that follows this universe. It can be found in my stories, or from the search "atticus the egg bearer"**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: First things first: I updated the last chapter with an author's note, which I'm not sure how many of you saw. So I'll reiterate. If you're interested. I have written an easter special and posted it to my profile. It follows the same universe as this but is separated from the story to incur fewer time jumps in my story. Or at least cause them to be more spread out. I know it's not easter anymore, and that some of you may not celebrate it, but I strongly encourage reading it anyway.  
**

Chapter 13

Shino's POV

I woke up the next morning, wanting nothing more than to go right back to bed. Unfortunately, my system alarm clock was going off, which meant one thing. Time to get back to grinding. I sat up and rubbed my eyes, then frozen in my place. There was a foreign pressure in a rather… umm… compromising place. There was a hand where I was sitting, so to say.

I quickly jumped from my position on the bed, freaking out more than a little. I looked back at where I had previously been laying, and sitting, expecting to see an unfamiliar face. Instead, I was greeted with a sleeping Kazuto. A heat spread through my face.

Kazuto groaned and raised his head. He looked around like he had no idea where he was. His eyes rested on me. "Morning Shino. What's up? You seem a little flustered."

I weighed my options. _I could scream, slap him, and call him a perv. Or I could just pretend that it never happened._ I opted for the ladder. I just didn't see any point in calling him a perv. Sure his hand was there, but it's not like he meant to. He was unconscious, it was an honest accident… I hope.

"N-nothing!" I exclaimed a little too quickly.

"Really? Your blush says otherwise." He wasn't teasing, and he wasn't being mean. He was just genuinely wondering why I seemed so flustered. "Did something happen while I was asleep?" he asked again, rising into a sitting position

"I told you! Nothing happened!" I knew I was getting defensive, which more than likely looked suspicious, but I couldn't stop myself. It was just a reflex.

He stared at me sceptically, then smiled rising from the bed. "If you say so." He said. "As long as you're not hurt in any way, I don't _need_ to know. Just remember, you can tell me anything."

"Don't worry Kazuto, I'm not hurt, and I know, you've been there for me since day one." I said with a smile.

He pushed himself from the bed, and onto his feet. "Well yeah. I've told you before, I love you. There was no way in hell I was gonna leave you all alone in this game."

I was a little disappointed that he didn't catch the true meaning of my words. Sure, he hasn't left me in the game, but even before that, he was always there for me if I needed someone to talk to.

"Really? Because I distinctly remember you trying to leave me after the first-floor boss." I was mostly just teasing him. I wasn't sore over it, nor was I angry.

"I wasn't gonna stay away from you for good. I don't think I would have been able to even if I tried. I was just trying to make sure they would accept you." He said shamefacedly. It was obvious that my teasing had made him ashamed of his actions.

I blushed "You mean that you would have come looking for me?" I asked.

"Of course I would!" he exclaimed

I walked up to him, and wrapped my arms around him, squeezing him in a firm hug. I was touched. I thought that he was seriously going to leave me, but he never had any real intention doing so.

He hugged me back tightly. It was such a warm gesture that I could have died happy, knowing the feeling that it was giving me. Of course, I'd rather not die, but if I did, I'd probably be happy beforehand.

"You ready to grind today?" He asked, never breaking the hug.

My face grew hot again. Thinking the word was no sweat, but hearing Kazuto say "grind" made me think of something else entirely. The way he said it only added to the implications that went flying through my head. Nonetheless, I knew the meaning behind his question.

"Yeah. I just don't want to let you go." I whined.

He chuckled lightly. "I don't want to let you go, ever." He started. "The only thing is, I really want to get back to the real world so that I can hold you for real." His words were so touching that I found a tear rolling down my cheek.

He loosened his grip, and quickly following after, I did the same, albeit regretfully. He smiled at me and turned toward the door, ready to level.

He walked to the door and grabbed the door handle hesitating only a second before opening the door and walking out. I followed closely behind him. It's funny really. We've gotten into a few "funny" situations because of his ideas and sense of direction. Let me clarify: by "funny" I mean dangerous and ridiculous. _Why do I repeatedly allow him to lead us to dangerous situations?_ I mentally questioned.

"Hey Kazuto, do you think I could take point today?" I asked. To be honest it was more like a plea.

"Absolutely. Lead the way!" He seemed almost enthusiastic to let me lead. He went from walking ahead of me to falling in tow behind me.

"Okay, so we have been in the fields and ended up falling into a fissure. The grendels weren't fun to deal with either. The forests have been picked clean of most monsters, and it takes a long time for them to respawn, so that's out. How about the labyrinth?"

"You're the leader. It's your call where we go." He exclaimed.

"Labyrinth it is then!"

I started marching in the direction of the labyrinth and Kazuto followed closely behind me. It wasn't far from our inn, so we could grind there, and maximize the time we spend leveling. A shorter walk home meant that we could spend more time getting stronger. That, and the monsters in the labyrinth respawned faster than regular monsters, so we could get more chances to kill higher level enemies, all the while searching for the boss room.

"Shino, I have a question," Kazuto stated plainly. "How do you think our bodies are doing? Back in the real world, I mean."

This question caught me off guard. "Hmm… well, obviously they can't be doing too badly. We're still here, so someone has to be taking care of us." It was a half-truth. I'm sure Kazuto's body was fine, yes. However, I shouldn't even be alive at this point. I was in my apartment alone when this all started, with no one to check on me.

"Yeah…" He agreed, trailing off as if there was more to the statement. I waited patiently for it to come. "I know you're worried about your situation." I felt a cold chill pass through me. I really didn't want him to worry about it too. "I have a feeling that Suguha went to your apartment as soon as this all started. I can just feel it."

Here I was, worrying about him worrying, and he had an optimistic view of the situation. He was reassuring me that everything would be okay in the end. _Why aren't I more open with my problems with him?_ I pondered. _He is so helpful, kinda like a therapist. My therapist._

"You're probably right." I said, "That would explain how I'm still alive." I stated flatly

I heard his breathing hitch, and him stumbling. "Shino, please don't say that like it's no big deal. I don't want to even think about losing you, and I don't want you thinking about it either."

I was silent for the rest of the way to the labyrinth. Our conversation had gotten me thinking; how long would our bodies survive in the real world? It's not like we could be kept on life support forever. They would pull the plug at some point.

When we arrived at the labyrinth, and I shook the thoughts from my head. I needed to focus on what we were doing, and not on the maybes of the real world. I opened my inventory, equipping "The Reprimander" currently my favorite sword; a Flyssa.

Kazuto stood behind me doing the same, equipping his level five Anneal Blade. It never ceased to amaze me that he still had his first sword. I had lost my first sword to a boss fight, which was a shame, considering that I loved that sword. But Kazuto kept his blade at a high durability perpetually. In fact, I doubt that his "Anneal Blade" will ever break.

"Ready?" I asked. That being the first thing that I had said after our "conversation", I probably came off as a bit of a bitch.

"Yeah, let's go."

We'd just finished killing a "Fallen Samurai" when we heard another party getting close. Kazuto pulled me to the side, and up against the wall of the labyrinth in an attempt to hide up. It was so sudden I almost cried out in surprise, and I would have too if not for Kazuto's hand clamping itself over my mouth.

The paths of the labyrinth were littered with rocks, stalagmites, and various other items that helped to hide us from the passing party. We watched as the players walked by. Something seemed really off about them though. They were traveling in such large numbers. The only thing that came to mind was that it was a boss raid, but that couldn't be right, the boss room hadn't even been found yet.

I focused in on the conversation of several of the party members. "Okay so let me get this straight, they found the boss room, and we're going to scout it?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I just can't figure out why they wouldn't make that information public."

"Something to do with those damn beaters probably."

"Yeah, they have been getting really far ahead of us. In fact, I heard that the beaters have all the final attack bonus items."

I didn't recognize any of the voices. That is until someone responded to the last comment. "That is not true. I have one of those final attack bonus items. Also, the people you all the beaters work for what they have. They don't really cheat." It was Asuna's voice.

 _Why would she defend us? We left her on the first floor. She was inexperienced and we left her._ I wondered. It didn't really make any sense.

Kazuto leaned in and whispered, "Let's follow them. We need to know the information they're collecting." He sounded excessively angry.

The group was slowly putting distance between the two of us, which was fine. If any of them had a high detection skill we would be as good as caught. At least I would. Kazuto's sneaking skill is a lot higher than mine.

His hand slipped away from my mouth and he spoke quietly, "When we get to the boss room," He whispered. "Watch from outside the door. The last thing we need is for them to be angry and more hostile toward us."

I nodded in silent affirmation. If the scouting party was just collecting information, they wouldn't take any unnecessary risks. So there was no need for us to actually battle, as long as we got the information. Besides, it was apparent that they didn't want us beaters there.

We started to tail them, keeping close track of how to get there. I had a strong feeling that they weren't going to invite us along to the actually fight either. By that logic, they wouldn't give us the mapping on how to get there either.

It took a little while but they finally got to the boss room. After a short speech of the usual motivational comments and final briefings, they pushed the doors open.

There in the center of the room sat a Samurai, much like the one that we had fought in the cavern dungeon, except much, much larger. His armour was the same and everything. _Guess the animation team got a little lazy._ I thought.

As soon as the whole party was inside, the samurai monster's head rose from its bowed position, and its eyes became a light with a crimson glow. He got up from his sitting position at his leisure. Almost like there weren't a bunch of people attacking it.

His health bars and his name appeared shortly after he stood up completely. It had four health bars, and its name was "Kagachi the Samurai Lord".

The party went about performing the usual boss raid techniques, testing the boss's reaction to each strategy. They were going out of their way to avoid hitting the boss unless absolutely necessary. The tank line wasn't taking much damage, and the attacking players (When there were any.) had actually brought its first health bar down a bit.

The boss sheathed its two smaller swords and reached for a long handle protruding from it's back. _Why would it opt for a single sword over two?_ I questioned.

I got my answer when the boss drew his new weapon; It was terrifyingly long. Of course, the boss is given a huge sword. _Would it hurt to put some variation in the boss fights?_ Then again, I should probably be thankful that they were so predictable.

I heard Kazuto's breathing hitch again. "That's an Odachi." He said, "An Odachi Katana."

With one swipe from the menacing sword, the durability of the shield held by the tanks dropped past or near to none. Some of them even took damage from behind their shields.

"Retreat!" Asuna screamed.

Everyone obeyed. They spun on the balls of their feet and all but sprinted to the door. They were coming so fast that if Kazuto and I didn't get moving then the players with high detection would find us for sure.

I grabbed Kazuto's hand and tugged it with as much urgency that I could convey silently. I was trying to sign to him that we needed to go. He was unresponsive to my message at first, but then he snapped out of whatever stupor he had been in. I pulled him along, running away from the boss room, all the while trying to stay hidden.

I pulled Kazuto through the exit of the labyrinth, trying to stay ahead of the scouting party. I didn't stop there though I dragged him all the way back to the town where our inn was located.

"Okay, well apparently they found the boss room." I said sarcastically. I had stopped running once we reached the town square and as such, I was out of breath.

"Yep." he responded.

"Okay, it's starting to get a little late. I don't see much point in going somewhere to farm if we'll just have to head back to the inn…"

"Wait, wait, wait, we just watched a boss scouting. Which by the way, was terrifying. And you're still focused on leveling?"

"Why not. The boss looked powerful, so we need to get as strong as we can in the small frame of time we have until the boss raid."

"I guess… You're good at this leading thing."

I smiled to myself; I love when he compliments me. "Anyway, like I was saying it _is_ a little late to go out and grind. So how about we go to a smith, and have our gear leveled, and repaired?"

Kazuto didn't say anything, he just nodded.

I started walking in the direction of the only smithing shop that I knew of in this town, Kazuto in tow. Sadly this smith was an NPC, so it was a lot less effective than if we had a personal friend to do the work for us.

We walked through the unoccupied streets of the city toward the smith shop. When we got there the rest is just straightforward. We paid the NPC to level up our sword. Kazuto's "Anneal Blade" failed to level up a few times, resulting in him paying more to get it back up. He probably blew more COL in one sitting here than he has in the rest of the game put together. He did manage to get the sword to plus ten though, the maximum level. My sword, on the other hand, it was already level nine. I almost didn't want to risk trying to level it. I did though, and the system did not disappoint.

While we were there, we had our armor repaired, and the durability of our swords increased. It cost us about fifty-thousand COL in all.

When we were done there, we started on our way back to the inn. The day had been exhausting, and we were ready to go to bed.

Kazuto kept his face buried in his inventory screen nearly the whole time. I didn't exactly know what he was doing, but I was willing to bet that he was checking the amount of COL he had spent.

We arrived at the inn and headed straight to the room. I unlocked the door, walked in and threw myself onto the bed. I laid there sprawled out over the whole bed until I felt a pressure on the bed. This signified that Kazuto was ready for bed too.

I rolled over to make room for him and he slid in next to me. "You know," he started, "You did really well today. Not only at leading, but fighting too. You destroyed those monsters!"

"Thanks, now go to bed." I said snuggling up to him.

I wasn't expecting what came next. It was unusual for Kazuto.

He leaned down and kissed me on the lips. Normally I was the one to kiss him. He never made the first move. It was passionate and gentle, and it ended all too soon.

He wrapped his arms around my waist and rested his forehead against mine.

My hand slowly trailed up to his face and rested on his cheek. I leaned in and kissed him again. This one was a bit longer, but still held the same amount of passion, and gentleness as the first. The third lasted much longer and was definitely a little more heated.

Though, much to my dismay, that was the last kiss before we both fell asleep.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Shino's POV

I woke up the next morning to the sound of a repetitive rapping sound on the door. _Knock, Knock, Knock._ I shot up out of bed, startling Kazuto into falling off the side and jumping back up in surprise and confusion. No one ever came to visit with us, let alone anyone coming to visit us this early in the morning. It was completely unusual and peculiar. It's not like they could present a threat to us for a variety of reasons; It's a safe zone, it's our apartment, and we're beta testers. So what could what could this person possibly be here for?

I scrambled to the door, standing right behind it. "Who's there?" I inquired.

"I'm Asuna, from the Knights of the Blood. This is Kirito and Sinon room, right?"

Since I knew Asuna, if even a little bit, and she had stood up for Kazuto and I yesterday, I decided to open the door just a little. It creaked open, Just enough for me to see out the crack between the door and its frame. I had to make sure that no one else was with her.

"You alone?" I asked. It seemed like she was, but there was no way of telling for sure. I needed some form of confirmation, and I would opt to trust her. I don't necessarily have a solid reason, I could just feel that she's trustworthy.

She looked through the crack in the door, back at me and nodded her head. I opened the door the rest of the way and walked back into the room. She followed me in, closing the door behind her.

"So, how'd you find us and what are you here for?" I asked, sounding angrier than I should have.

She hung her head. "Eh… uh… Actually, I followed you last night." She said, "And I'm here to talk about the boss raid."

Kazuto looked at her with a sideways glance. "You… followed us?" He asked. He sounded shocked. That or just confused.

She kept her eyes focused on her feet. "Yes. I needed to know where to find you. I would have talked to you yesterday, but if I had been gone too long the scouting party would have caught on." She explained. "I'm really sorry if I upset you…" She had brought her eyes up and was looking at us. Her last statement trailed off as though she lost her focus and forgot to finish.

She was looking just to the side of me. I trace her eyes to where she was looking. At first, I thought she was looking at Kazuto, only that didn't seem quite right. She was looking right next to Kazuto, right at the bed that he and I share. _Uh oh._

"Anyway… what about the boss raid did you want to talk with us about?" I asked, trying to get here attention off of the singular bed in the room.

"Oh, right… umm… well, the boss raid is supposed to go down today. The raid is in four hours. I thought I'd come by now so that I could share the bosses skills and strategies with you since you weren't there for the scouting raid."

Kazuto and I looked at one another. It surprised us that she was willing to go against the wishes of everyone in the raid party and all but tell us to come to the actual raid today. Also, it cracked us up to hear that we weren't at the raid, when in fact, we were. We couldn't hold it anymore, we burst into fits of laughter.

Asuna's expression went from shock to indignation. She seemed to think that we were laughing at her. In actuality, it probably looked that way. We burst into a seemingly unjustified fit of laughter right after her explanation.

"H-hey! It's not funny! I just wanted to help. You guys weren't invited to the scouting so I figured that you'd appreciate the information!" She cried out.

This only served to make us laugh harder. We were laughing so hard that I was hunched over, holding my sides and had tears rolling from my cheeks, and Kazuto was holding his sides as well, only he was rolling around on the ground.

"Jeez!" Asuna yelled. "Why are you guys laughing!?"

It was hard to respond while laughing but I felt that it was necessary. "B-because, w-we were at the boss scouting!" I cried out between fits of laughter.

"You were? But I didn't see you guys." Her indignant face had disappeared and was replaced by an expression of confusion.

I manage to stop laughing long enough to explain. "We were at the scouting, only we weren't fighting. We heard all the conversations about us and thought it would be best to lay low. Essentially we watched the whole battle." I told her.

"You did? Why didn't you guys jump in to help us out?! It would have made that scouting a whole lot easier!"

Kazuto had stopped laughing shortly after me, so he answered this question. "We didn't jump in," He started, all of the sudden becoming very serious. "Because, most, if not all, of the people there, were hostile toward us. If you were in our situation, and everyone wanted you gone, would you have jumped in?"

She once again looked down at her shoes. "You have a point. I probably wouldn't have jumped in." She said, in almost a whisper.

"Look," I said. "Thank you for coming to tell us about the boss raid. It's good to know that we have an ally in this mess of a world. But can you honestly tell us that if we show up to the raid, we won't be harassed?"

"I can't promise you that _nobody_ will harass you. However, there are others, besides me, who know that you aren't bad people. In fact, there are quite a few people in the party who wanted you there, and who still want you there."

Kazuto and I were both shocked beyond words. Up until this statement, we had both assumed that all the players in SAO had mutually agreed that the beta testers and the beaters were terrible. It was almost unimaginable to think that there are some people who look up to us, who respect us. 

Kazuto spoke up first. "We were going to go to the boss raid whether people wanted us there or not. We aren't going to leave people's lives to chance just because they were too obstinate to ask for help."

Asuna smiled at Kazuto. "That's good to hear. With you there, there will be fewer casualties and the boss will be easier to defeat." She said. "The final strategy meeting is in two hours. It's at the church in the primary city. I hope to see you there."

She turned toward the door and walked out of the room. I waited until I could no longer hear her footsteps before speaking. "Kazuto? Can I ask you something?" I asked. "What the hell just happened?" I continued, not giving him a chance to respond.

"Well… If I'm not mistaken… We were stalked… and invited to a boss raid."

"I know that much. What I don't get, is how back and forth that was. I don't know if that conversation was supposed to be uplifting, depressing, or profound. It was really confusing." I said

"The point, I think, was to show that we aren't hated by _everyone._ " He said. It made me smile. It felt great to know that we weren't public enemy number one. Then Kazuto opened his mouth again. "Just _almost_ everyone."

I directed my gaze toward Kazuto. My face was in an expression of absolute annoyance. He spoke up at a time that was not necessary and ruined a happy moment.

"What?" He asked, taking notice of my annoyed face. "Did I say something wrong?" He was completely clueless sometimes.

I huffed out a breath and shook my head and started toward the door. I wanted to get some breakfast and the best place to do that was a little cafe not far from our inn. It was run by NPC's of course, but the food's taste was great. _Thank god for a flavor recreation engine!_ I thought.

I made it quite a ways before Kazuto started to follow me. "Wait, Shino! Are you mad at me? What did I do wrong?" I kept walking. "Shino, please, what did I do?"

After breakfast and a serious pestering by Kazuto, it was nearly time to go to the strategy meeting. It was still debatable whether or not we should go. Sure we may have supporters, but that doesn't mean that the people there wouldn't try to stop us from coming to the boss raid. The way I see it, if we avoid the meeting and just show up at the raid, we may be ill-informed about the strategy, but at least no one could stop us from coming.

"So, what do you wanna do Kazuto? Do you want to go to the strategy meeting? Or just show up at the raid?" I asked.

"Well, I think that it would be best to go to the meeting. We may get pushed away and we may be rejected, but that won't stop us. If they try to push us away, it will surprise them, even more, when we show up anyway."

"To the meeting, it is then." I said, starting off in the direction of the primary city.

Kazuto started following me, but quickly jogged up to my side, falling into step next to me. It was obvious that something was eating away at him from the sour expression on his face. I wanted to know what was going through his head. At the same time, I didn't want to push for something that he may not want to talk about.

It took all but fifteen minutes to get to the church that the meeting was held in. It was more of a cathedral. It was huge. We walked in, and all the eyes in the room fell on us at once. We walked in five minutes late and no one failed to notice.

Someone from the crowd shouted. "What the hell are you beaters doing here!?" The voice sounded familiar. Not only the voice but the utter superiority complex and accusatory tone that came with it. It was without a doubt Kibou

No one answered his question, they all just turned back man in the center of the room, who apparently was the one giving the strategy briefing. He continued the plan as if we hadn't even arrived. I don't know if they were pretending that we weren't here or if they just didn't care.

The strategy was pretty bland, tanks out front, DPS switching in for attacks. A strategy centered around defending the health the attackers and causing as much damage as possible. All that was left was to put the strategy into use.

The meeting ended faster than I would have expected it to. "Okay, everybody. That concludes the final strategy briefing. You will have an hour to make final preparations. Meet back here when the hour is up." The briefer announced.

Kazuto and I had taken care of anything that we needed to last night. We had an hour to kill and no way to kill it. We walked around aimlessly the whole time, occasionally trying to talk with other members of the raid party. Some of them talked, others blatantly avoided us.

The hour felt long, but now it's finally over. We arrived at the church and found a peculiar sight. It was empty. The briefer definitely said that we'd meet back here in an hour. So why was it that there was no one here.

It took me about ten seconds to figure it out. _They planned this ahead of time. They planned that if we show up, they'll leave early._ There was no telling when they left, or even if they walked. If it was this well organized, then they very well could have left a teleport crystal affixed to the location of the boss room. _But then why wouldn't Asuna tell us? She went to the trouble of coming to tell us that we should come this morning. So why?_ Something wasn't adding up.

"Kazuto, we need to get to the boss room! Now!" I said urgently.

"You think that they left already?" He seemed apprehensive about the idea, but not at all disbelieving of it.

"Ya. Let's go!" I shouted running in the direction of the labyrinth.

If they had left any sooner than twenty minutes ago, then they will have been in battle already. It will take us twenty minutes to get there in a rush. Any way you look at it the party is probably already fighting the boss, and we might not get there soon enough the help them.

We were running as fast as we could without having to stop. _We need to get there!_ I thought. Maybe if we got there in time we could stop some unnecessary death.

We got to the labyrinth and ran through its winding corridors and caverns, right to the boss room. The door was standing ajar. _Looks like we were right._ We stopped right in front of the door, observing the sight in front of us.

The boss was actually on his final health bar. It didn't appear that any lives had been lost yet either. There were a few people off to the side, whose health bars were in the red. They were drinking healing potions and doing everything that the system would allow for them to heal. They wanted to get back into the fight.

Everything was going smoothly. It was incredibly impressive if I was being completely honest with myself. That is until someone decided to break formation.

"He's almost dead! I'm gonna finish him off!" The player screamed.

I saw them charge, breaking the rhythm of attack. Of course, the hothead responsible for this was none other than Kibou.

"That final attack bonus is as good as mine!" He screamed.

He didn't even get within four meters of the samurai monster before he was stopped. The boss had swung his long Odachi Katana, activating a curved sword skill: "Horizontal Slash" It was an incredibly basic skill, but with Kibou's health and the stats of the boss and his weapon, there was no way that he was walking away from this fight.

Kibou flew across the room, his face carrying an expression of pain and shock. He had obviously overestimated himself and now he was paying the heaviest price that there was to pay. His life. He shattered into a countless number of polygons. His virtual body no longer having a place in this world, or in the other for that matter.

Kazuto rushed in. If the formation and rhythm didn't pick up again, the odds are that boss would gain the upper hand, kill a lot of people, and the boss raid will have been for nothing. It would be a lot faster for us to rush in and reinforce the party. It would save lives and probably clear the floor.

The boss once again swung his Katana activating the same skill. The large line of tanks blocked the blow, at the cost of a large sum of their shield durability. It didn't seem to faze them much other than the small stun that was inflicted. It actually seemed more like they were more stunned when we showed up. No one complained or protested now though.

Everyone continued the strategy as it was originally planned. There was a system of blocking, then using the opening created by that to attack the boss so that it couldn't fight back.

The boss had already been on its last health bar when we showed up, so this battle should not take long at all. Although it has seemingly lasted a lot longer that we thought it would already. To top that off, the boss didn't seem to be using any special skills, despite its health getting dangerously low.

We only got a few good hits in before the boss was destroyed. To end the fight, I had just landed a critical hit on the boss and switched out with a random member of the assault party. Their attack was the one that ended the battle. He landed on his feet and swung his sword from side to side. The final attack bonus appeared in front of him. Not wasting a second, he accepted it and equipped it. A blue light enveloped his finger and a ring materialized.

I looked at his nametag, only to find that his name was simple and peculiar… Xaxa.

Xaxa walked in the direction of the now cleared floor door. Everyone else had stopped to take a rest after the fight, but Xaxa kept going. He reached the door and pushed it open. He took one more step, then stopped and turned his head slightly. I could feel his smirk from across the room.

"I'll be seeing you soon... Asada Shino." He said softly, albeit menacingly.

My eyes must have looked like saucers in that moment. My body was shaking slightly and I was so shocked that I barely registered Kazuto's had grabbing my own. _How the hell did that guy know my name?_

 **A/N: Okay, so several big things this chapter. Kibou dies, so how is that gonna change the story in the future? Also, Xaxa knows it's Shino. How's that going to play out? With this one chapter, I have set up quite the conundrum.**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Shino's POV

Kazuto and I walked with the raid party, up the newly cleared stairs of the boss room, to the new floor of Aincrad. My mind was elsewhere though. Not on the stairs ahead of us, the progress that we had made in the game, or on anything related to the matters that are right ahead of us. My focus was on the past, the recent past. More accurately I was focused on the man who has taken me by surprise. Xaxa...

He had gotten the final attack bonus, then disappeared, but not before giving a shocking statement. He had said that he would see me soon… but not… me. He didn't refer to me as Sinon. Which meant he knew me, the real me.

That wasn't the primary concern though. If he knew my real name, there could be only one explanation in my opinion. He had to have known me in the real world. This wouldn't have been a problem under different circumstances. However, when I got into SAO, I was only in a _slightly_ better situation than before. I still wasn't too social, and given that we were all given our real appearances in the game, if he did know me, then I would recognize him. Unfortunately, I didn't.

Kazuto lightly nudged my arm, drawing me out of my deep state of thought. I look at him, wondering what it was that he was trying to get my attention for. He looked back at me with sorrowful eyes. Whatever it was that he wanted to say, he must have changed his mind, because he looked forward again without saying a word.

"What, Kazuto?" I asked aggravatedly. Whatever it was, I wasn't really in the mood.

I shouldn't be as mad as I was, but I couldn't help it. First, we get excluded from the raid deliberately, then this creepy, weird, nutcase shows up acting like he knows me and seemingly makes a threat.

"I'll tell you when we get a room on the eleventh floor…" He stated cautiously.

"I don't want to wait that long to know what you're thinking," I replied. His repression of information was only serving to further my anger.

He looked around, seeming to make sure no one was listening to us. "There are too many people here. Please, just wait until we are more alone."

I huffed angrily but complied nonetheless. We continued walking up the stairs to the next floor. We had been walking for a long while now, it couldn't be much longer until we reached the next floor.

The good news is that the later we got there, the longer I had to think. That is something that I really needed. Unfortunately, I didn't get that long, only shortly after Kazuto had captured my attention did we see the light of the eleventh-floor. From there, we wasted no time in rushing to an inn.

When we got there and rented a room, I was more than ready for Kazuto's explanation. I closed the door to the room and sat down on the bed. "So… what was it you wanted to say back there? What was so bad that you couldn't tell me with others around?" I questioned.

"Okay, first, why do I feel like I'm being interrogated? Second, it wasn't really bad, or a statement… It was more like… a question that nobody else needed to know the answer to." He responded.

"Kazuto, I'm really not in the mood right now. Just tell me." I said.

His face fell. "Well, I just wanted to know what that guy meant. How'd he know your name? Why did he say that he would see you soon?"

"If I knew the answer to any of that, do you think that I would be this upset?!" I screamed.

"N-no… I guess not…" He started, trailing off. I had obviously frightened him with my outburst.

"My only guess is that, somehow, he knew me back in the real world. The only thing is, I didn't recognize him, and I was only ever social with you and Suguha. I don't know how he could have known my name." I explained to him.

"Well, there's always another angle to look at. Ya, it could be that he knew you from the real world, but it could be something else."

"What do you mean? What other ways could he have found out my name?"

"He could be a hacker. If he was able to hack into Argus's network, then he could have found out your name, address, email, and any other information that you used to sign up for the beta."

"You're forgetting something Kazuto. He knew what I looked like. He knew who _I_ was. Not just my name. He was able to pick out my face."

Kazuto's face became perplexed. He knew a lot about computers, but sometimes it seemed that he lacked a certain portion of common sense.

"Well ya, but there are still other ways that he could know you. Maybe you knew him a while back and just don't remember him."

"Kazuto! Even if that's the case, why the hell would he threaten me!?"

"I don't know…" He voice was quite. I had been erratic and had been nearly yelling at him this whole time and yet he remains calm and collected. "We can go ask around. I'm sure some other players would be willing to share information. If not, I can always see if Argo or some other info broker has information on him."

I collapsed from my sitting position on the bed, falling backwards and sprawling out on the mattress. I clenched my eyes shut, hoping that that would relieve some of my anger. "Okay- that sounds good…" I trailed off. I shouldn't have been taking my anger out on Kazuto, so from that point, I was gonna keep my anger in check.

He didn't respond with words. He simply nodded his head and walked out of the room. The raid was fairly early, so there was still plenty of daylight, plenty of time to get work done. I guess he was thinking the same thing.

"Where are you going?" I asked him.

"I'm going to look for information on this guy." He responded evenly.

I started to pry myself from my position on the bed, intent on following him.

"No. You stay here." He stopped me.

"Fat chance!"

"Seriously. Stay here. You need a little break and some time to think. Besides, he threatened you. I don't intend to let him make good on that. In fact, I intend to make him pay for it." His voice had become dark, almost frightening.

I shot him a dirty glance but stopped trying to follow him. I didn't like when he made it seem as if I was helpless. _How many times have I saved his life?_ Regardless of what I thought of the situation, something in his voice was frightening, commanding, and dark. I couldn't make myself follow him out of the room after that.

He walked out the door, even the way he was walking broadcasted his determination. His exit left me, once again sitting in the bed, thinking to myself. _Well, what am I supposed to do with this newly discovered free time?_ I was at a complete loss. I had become so accustomed to using _every_ last spare second that I had farming or grinding for XP. Now that I was in a room and was all but forbade from leaving, I was completely lost.

I opened my inventory menu. _Might as well organize my inventory. Find some stuff to sell for extra COL._ I thought. I'm sure that I have gotten some good drops to sell since the last time. I got one good look at the contents of my inventory and sighed. _At least it'll keep me busy for a while._

I got to work, trashing the low-level gear and sorting out what gear to keep and what gear in worth enough to sell. My hand passed over a sword that I had have had a while, but have not used. The "Tranquil Katana" My face fell. Remembering the event in which I got that sword were slightly painful. My hand hesitated over the sword. Something deep inside me was urging me to take the sword out. To use it.

I shook myself from the daze that I was in. I refuse to use that horrendous piece. I observed the rest of my inventory, only to find that I had proficiently blown through that chore. I sprawled myself out on the bed again huffing again. There was nothing that I could do.

I lay there for what seemed to be greater than eternity. In reality, it was only a few minutes. I was getting incredibly impatient. I pushed myself up from the bed again, only this time, I got up and walked to the door. _Kazuto all but commanded me to stay here. Too bad!_ I thought to myself.

I out of the inn into the large city of the eleventh floor. I was going to find answers with or without Kazuto. He can look for answers on his own, but I'm sure as hell not going to sit idly by and wait for him to come back.

My searching was mostly just wandering around aimlessly, hoping to catch a glimpse the this Xaxa character. If I could just corner him, then I could get all the answers that I need. I had thought that I saw him plenty of times already but it always turned out to be a mistake, a trick of the eye.

I needed to find him fast. If I didn't Kazuto would come back to the inn and find that I was missing. I was still too pissed to really care about his command. However, I really didn't want him to be angry. Despite his usually cool and easygoing attitude, when he is angry, he is scary.

I opened my map and used the friend location feature to see if Kazuto was back at the in yet. To my surprise, he was far away but heading back in that direction. I sighed. I had been out this whole time with no information and no progress, an afternoon wasted.

I too, like Kazuto, headed back in the direction of the inn, hopeful of getting there before him. I didn't make it too far before someone grabbed my wrist, rather roughly I might add. I spun my head around to see who it was. _Xaxa!_ I thought aggressively.

"Did I not tell you that I'd be seeing you soon?" He said cockily.

I was surprised that his grip was so tight. There shouldn't have been much of a grip if a grip at all. Allow me to explain: There is a system in Aincrad called the "Crime Prevention Code", and the "Harassment Prevention Code". This code stops not all but _most_ forms of assault and harassment. In extreme cases, where a player is being assaulted in a sexual way, there is an option for the victim, to send the assailant to prison at the moment of. That was a deterrent from the crimes being committed in the first place. Right now, there should be red flags appearing in his line of sight. A warning that you are violating the code. It also forced the person who was receiving the flags away, only that part wasn't happening.

"You did… but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it!" I shouted attempting to tear my arm away from him, to no avail.

"Ahhh! And here I was thinking that we could hit it off." He responded in mock disappointment.

I'm not sure if it was programmed, or if it was just so ridiculous that I broke the code, but I threw up a little bit in my mouth.

"You thought wrong! Now let me go and tell me how you know me!" I shouted again.

He had the audacity to smirk but did not release my arm. He began to explain, complying with my second demand, disregarding the first. "I know you for some personal reasons. Also, I've seen you in the real world. You just never saw me." It wasn't much of an explanation but it did clear some things up.

"So you're a stalker?!" I questioned, renewing my violent attempts at freeing my arm from his grasp.

His grip only tightened. "No… I'm not a stalker... " He whispered maniacally. "I just have access to a bunch of pictures of you. And man I gotta say… they're great for _relief_ …" He kept trailing off, his voice breathy.

I raised my fist this time. "You're a pervert! A monster!" I screamed. I swung my fist. I wasn't expecting it to actually land a hit, so when it did and he let go, I was genuinely surprised and grateful. _Guess the codes and the flags were on my side._

He didn't seem phased. His demeanor didn't waver other than the slight anger that he held in his voice. "Yeah… maybe... " He started. "But I won't touch you after the game is cleared… you're already reserved for someone else…" His statement sent shivers down my spine. I was more that a little startled by his proclamation.

However, before I could say anything, in the blink of an eye, he was gone. It was almost as if he just vanished into thin air.

I looked around to clarify that he was gone before sulking my way back to the inn. _What was that supposed to mean? How does he have pictures of me?_

All in all, I was given vague answers to some of my questions only to have more questions replace them. Nothing was truly answered, and I have new, more pressing question. No secrets were revealed.

I arrived back at the inn and walked into the room. Kazuto still wasn't back yet. I didn't know whether to be relieved or upset. I really wanted to talk with him about this. _It's probably for the best that I don't actually. After all, he did tell me to stay here for this exact reason.  
_

I sprawled myself out on the bed. My mind was fixated on my conversation with Xaxa. Mostly the pictures, and his way of speaking to me. I started to doze off but before falling asleep, a few tears rolled from my eyes and down my face. With that, I fell into an uneasy, and nightmarish sleep.

 **A/N: Okay, so I have some bad news. I don't want anyone to freak out, so let me clarify something beforehand: This is not ending, nor is it going on hiatus. I will still be posting new chapters.**

 **Now onto the news. School has gotten really hectic. It's the final stretch before summer, so the teachers are really piling on the tests, quizzes, homework, essays, projects and other assignments. On top of this finals are coming up. It is getting increasingly harder for me to find time to write. I will try to stick to a frequent posting, but chapters may take longer than usual to write. Please be patient.**

 **Also, reviews are appreciated. I feel this chapter may not be on par with its predecessors.**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Shino's POV

I woke up the next morning feeling unusually lonely. I turned on my side to find that Kazuto was not lying next to me, but rather he was sitting in a chair across the room. He was asleep in a way that looked extremely uncomfortable.

On some level, I was a little disappointed that he opted to sleep in a chair rather than the bed with me. Although a much larger part of me was thankful that he was being considerate. I was having a bad day yesterday. He must have thought it better to just give me some space. However, he was basing that thought off outdated information. If he knew about the conversation I had had shortly before I slept, I'm sure he not only would have stayed out of the bed but probably would have stayed out of the inn as well.

By that, I don't mean that he would completely avoid me, no. He just wouldn't have come back in the first place. He would have stayed out all night to hunt down Xaxa. And honestly, I don't even want to know what Kazuto would be capable of doing to him in that situation. It frightened me to think that if he knew, he could become a play killer.

That might sound conceited; To believe that he would go as far as to kill for me. Granted, it might be a little but I also have a little experience with his behaviour. Back on the fifth floor, there was another incident with players, much like the one on the first floor. A party of close-knit friends was threatening us and one decided to attack me first. He activated his skill and was already in the middle of carrying it out. My reaction time was too slow to counter. Kazuto's however, was not. He countered the skill and then went after the guy. He nearly killed him and probably would have had I not stopped him.

That's not all though. Once, we were walking through a town on the eighth floor and a group of boys started hitting on me. Again, that probably sounds really conceited but it was painfully obvious. They would cheer, shout, jeer, and whistle as we walked by. They said things like, "Hey hot stuff!" and, "Look at that cutie!" suffice to say that they weren't discreet. One particularly bold boy tried to approach me. I was more than ready to send him away and if necessary, defend myself. I never needed to though, Kazuto had his hand on his sword and become very menacing. The boy retreated before even getting close to me.

The point being that in cases where I can get hurt, in any way, Kazuto becomes very protective. I should see it as a good thing and truth be told, I kind of like it. Despite that, I have to admit; He can be really possessive

I sat up in bed and walked to the bathroom. I was desperately craving a shower. As I have said before, they don't serve any purpose in Aincrad. They just feel really good and offer some semblance of normalcy.

In spite of the relaxing feel of warm water and the delusions of grandeur it gave me, I ended my shower fairly quickly. I wanted, above all else, to get stronger. There was next to no price that I wouldn't pay to become stronger.

I walked back into the bedroom after equipping all of my gear again. Kazuto was still sleeping in his chair with what seemed like no intention of waking up. I approached him and knelt down in front of him.

"Kazuto, wake up. It's time to go level up." I didn't shout it or anything. I was trying to get him up without startling him.

"Five more minutes mom…" He slurred sleepily. It was obvious that he wasn't even really awake.

I wanted to laugh. That was only ever something you heard on a cartoon or anime. That isn't something that anyone ever said. I resisted the urge however and went on trying to wake him.

"Nope, It's time to grind."

He didn't respond at first, he just kind of laid there. Then he said something that caught my attention and piqued my interest. "Shino…" It was barely above a whisper and was almost inaudible. It was definitely my name though.

I stopped taking, waiting for him to say something else. "I… love… you…" Each word that came out of his mouth was breathy and there was a brief pause between words

My face grew hot. _I should really, really wake him up now!_ I thought to myself. Though, no matter how much I thought it, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I was just too curious. I wanted to know if he would say anything else. I was both satisfied and disappointed with the outcome of that choice. He did say something but most of it was unintelligible

"When… real world… you… me…" He drawled.

 _Ok, that's enough._ I thought. "Kazuto! Wake up!" I shouted.

He nearly jumped five meters in the air. Not only that, but he woke up screaming like a frightened schoolgirl.

"What the hell Shino?!" He screamed after recovering from his shock.

I shrugged my shoulders. "You wouldn't wake up," I stated, matter of factly. "Also, did you have sweet dreams?" I questioned slyly.

His face grew red. "N-no! Nope. no dreams. Why do you ask?" He scrambled.

"Oh, I don't know. I was just curious." I said.

"O-oh."

"That and you were talking in your sleep."

"WHAT!?" He screamed. "What all did I say?!" He was panicking rather frantically.

I smirked. "Nothing much. You did say my name though."

He seems unsatisfied with my answer but stopped pushing it nonetheless. I suppose he just wanted to end the conversation. In situations like these, when something is embarrassing, he either avoid the conversation or changes the subject altogether. That is unless, he was really curious about it, which apparently until about ten seconds ago, he was.

"Okay, so you ready to go kill monsters?" I questioned, trying to steer our conversation back to its original subject.

"Yeah… but I'm gonna call it quits a bit early today. I have something that I have to do." He stated. He didn't sound too enthusiastic about this "thing". He sounded more like he was dreading it.

"Alright… that's cool…" I didn't want to sound too dejected. I'm pretty sure I failed. "You want me to just keep farming when you do your 'thing'?"

"... Nah, it would be really dangerous. Don't get me wrong," He started, raising his hands up defensively. "I don't think you're weak. It's just that we just got to this floor and we don't know any of the monsters' pattern. I don't want to leave anything to chance."

"Then what am I supposed to do while you're off gallivanting?" I inquired.

He kept a straight face. "One, I'm not gallivanting." He defended. "As for what you should do, it doesn't really matter. Just use the rest of the day as a free day. I would feel like a jerk if I told you what to do."

"Okay then, let's get going."

The rest of the day went mostly according to routine. That is until Kazuto left for his "thing". At that point, I was left alone. The events of yesterday had rattled me a bit, sure, but I wasn't about to let that stop me from living my life. Or at least living the closest likeness to life that we can. If I were to have a repeat of yesterday, I'd be ready this time.

I walked aimlessly through town. I was primarily interested in finding a smith shop, or someplace useful. I wasn't having much luck and was seriously thinking about going back into the fields, regardless of the danger. I even started heading back in that direction. I didn't make it very far. I turned into an alley and ran smack-dab into someone. We both fell back onto our butts.

I had run into a girl about my age, if not a little younger. She was a little shorter than I was, had neck length brown hair with a single braid on the left, and had brown eyes to match She quickly scrambled back to her feet and made an attempt to help me up. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going!"

This was strange considering I was the one who turned into the alleyway and ran into her. This girl who apologized despite that it was obviously not her fault, seemed really nervous and uneasy. She was behaving as if I would bite her head off or something.

"It's alright. It was my fault anyway. I turned into the alley and was walking too fast, as well as not paying enough attention. You're not to blame." I assured her. "What's your name?" I asked with a smile, once again standing on my feet.

I easily could have looked at her player tag. I just didn't think about it. I may not have been the most social person back in reality, but I had still asked plenty of people for a name. I guess it was just a retained habit.

"It's Yuna. How about you?" She responded.

I couldn't tell if she was pulling my leg or not. Normally players learn names by looking at player tags. I didn't do it out of habit, but what are the odds that we would both make the exact same mistake?

"My name is Sinon. Nice to meet you Yuna." I said warmly.

"It's very nice to meet you too Sinon!" She responded enthusiastically.

I returned her warm smile. I don't know what it is about this girl but she just inspires a "happy" reaction. Perhaps it was her willingness to be so happy, which seemed to be the case. Or maybe it has something to do with her being so incredibly nice. I had not spent much time with her at all and I could already tell that she was a really nice person.

I looked her over, taking notice of some things that I had not before. For starters, she was lacking in the gear category. She had only light armour on, accompanied by no sword. In fact, the only bit of equipment she had on her, that I could see, was a lute or guitar of some kind.

"You know Yuna, with equipment like that, you're gonna be in danger in this game." I warned. I was technically sticking my nose where it didn't belong, in someone else's business, but at the same time, I really didn't want this girl to get hurt.

"I know…" She trailed off. "It's just that I'm not much of a fighter and my level is really low."

I smiled again. "If you want to trust me, I can fix that for you. I can help you become so strong that you could solo everything except boss fights."

"I don't know... " She drawled. "I'm really far behind in terms of level and I don't have any good armour or weapons."

"That's no problem. Again, if you want, I can give you some of the equipment that I won't use. I have some good stuff in my inventory."

She hesitated, standing there for some time. "Alright. Let's do it!" Her demeanor went from hesitant to enthusiastic in no time.

I opened my friend menu and sent here a request. It appeared in front of her and she accepted. Then I sent her a trade request. As soon as she accepted it, I piled in all the equipment that she could use. I never use half the equipment in my inventory anyway.

She looked over the new equipment and her eyes grew like saucers. She seemed surprised by the items that I had given her.

"These items are all rare and powerful!" She all but screamed. It was a mix between shock, as predicted, and thanks.

I had no idea that my unused items were so powerful. "Really? I just kind of gave you everything that I don't use anymore." I stated.

"Really?! How freaking high is your level!?" She questioned.

"Oh… um… I'm level nineteen." I said. The average level for someone on the eleventh floor was twelve. Giver or take a couple levels.

"Really!? And you're willing to spend time on training me?" _This girl asks a lot of questions,_ I thought. _But then again… I guess it's justified in this scenario._

"Of course I am," I started. "I'm not a cruel girl, in fact, I like to help people. It gives me a semblance of purpose."

The girl looked shocked but nodded just the same. Obviously a sign of understanding and acknowledgement. She was trying to tell me in a way that was not verbal, that she understood why I was more than willing to help her, and she was accepting it. Accepting my help.

"Then let's be off." I said, cocking my head to the side and giving a genuine smile.

"Okay!" She exclaimed enthusiastically.

I started walking to the warp gate. Her level was not high enough to pit her against the monsters of this floor. So I was going to take her down to the lower floors. If I could get her level high enough, I could save her from getting hurt later in this "game".

"By the way," I said, "If you're really lucky, you'll get to meet the guy who taught me everything I know."

"That would be so amazing!" She shrieked.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Shino's POV

We spent hours grinding. Not just leveling, but full on grinding. We didn't take breaks for anything. Yuna was leveling up very fast, which was probably, in part, due to the nonstop grinding. To be completely honest, her affinity for the game was impressive, even to a beta tester like me.

After the long hours and about four levels for Yuna, we had decided to finally take a break. We walked to the central plaza of Kriegstein, the fifth floor's biggest village. Despite the extreme leveling that Yuna had done, she was still only capable of soloing monsters on the fifth floor… tells you a lot about what level and skill she was at prior to our training session. I mean sure, I'm here with her, so if something goes wrong, I can step in and protect her, but the whole point was to make her stronger, not me.

The plaza looked like something that you would see in a fantasy manga or anime. _Ahhh… manga and anime… now that takes me back._ What I mean is that it had a large open area with a fountain in the dead center, and old-fashioned houses, shops and other establishments.

We sat down on the fountain, relieved to finally be taking a rest. "So," I started. "How does it feel to make so much progress in one sitting?"

"Honestly, It's a little exhausting. Is it always like this when fighting on the front lines?" She questioned.

"Uh… well yes and no. You see, when you level up enough, higher level enemies become easier to fight. However, on the front lines, even if you have a high level, it is always hard to fight. It gets especially hard when you grind like you just did. it becomes nearly impossible to do that on the front lines." I explained.

Her lips curved upward into a small smile. "I get that. So when do you think I'll be able to fight on the front lines"

My head whipped toward her. I was shocked by her question. "Yuna… I know that I was helping you level to fight monsters… but the front lines are dangerous. I'm not saying that you couldn't handle it, just that it wouldn't be safe." I began. "Yuna, you are a wonderful girl. You shouldn't endanger your life by fighting on the front lines."

"You think that I'm a great girl?" She asked. Her face was flushed.

"Absolutely. I may not have known you for long, but I can tell from the way that you talk and interact with people that you are kind and respectful. I want you to make it out of this hell of a world."

"Thank you so much…" She trailed off. She sounded as if she were going to cry. "But Sinon, I want you to make it out of this world too. You're a great person too!"

It was my turn to be flustered. I didn't expect her to respond like that. If anything I was expecting her to rebel against my recommendation and head to the front lines anyway. Instead, she responded to my suggestion with, in a way, her own suggestion. She not only said the same that to me that I had to her but also showed genuine concern for me. _I really like this girl!_ I screamed internally.

"Thank you, Yuna. But someone has to beat this game, and in my opinion, I'd rather it be me, and I'd rather risk my own life than promote someone else risking theirs."

"Sinon, this conversation is starting to seem really back and forth. We both want the other to survive, but we also both want to clear this world and get home. There isn't really any way that we can both be satisfied."

I leaned back, resting my hands on the fountain and looked down at my feet. _She has a point._ I thought. _There is no way that both of us will be satisfied with the situation. If I keep going, I might die and she doesn't want that to happen. But… If she starts on the front lines, she'll be getting a late start. She'll be at risk and I don't want that._ I was extremely deep in thought. I wanted to find a way that both our conditions could be met.

"I know that I don't have as much experience as you," She started. "And that I don't have any right to tell you what to do. Nor to I have any right to ask anything of you. But I don't want _anyone_ to die, let alone my friends."

I thought about that for a second. "I…" I stuttered. _Wait a minute, I have an idea._ "Yuna, I think that I have and idea…"

"I'm all ears!"

"How about this? You get to fight on the front lines and help to clear the game. Only whenever you want to fight on the front lines, you party with Kazuto and I."

Up to that point, I hadn't mentioned Kazuto all but twice. Once to say that if she was lucky, she'd get to meet him, and another to tell her his name. She still didn't know anything about him and had not met him. She looked apprehensive of meeting and partying with him.

"I would gladly agree, only, are you sure that he would be alright with that. I mean, it's not like he knows me. He might not want a random girl tagging along." She said.

"Oh trust me, he'll be fine with it. If he's not, then I'll just have to convince him."

Then came a voice, head toward us. "Convince me of what?"

It was Kazuto. He was walking toward the fountain casually. He had a smile on his face, but it seemed a little forced.

"Oh Kirito," I said, shocked. "You finally finish that thing that you had to do?"

"Yeah, all done. So what is it that you want to convince me to do?" He asked.

"Oh, right! Um, well, Yuna here needs a party for the front lines. She's dead set on it, and will not take no for an answer. So I told her that whenever she's fighting on the front lines, she can party with us." I explained. "I thought that you wouldn't object to it, but if you did, I was going to try to convince you."

I was really hoping he wouldn't protest the idea. If he did, and I couldn't convince him to change his mind, then Yuna would probably try to fight on the front lines without us, putting her in a risky situation. It was all up to Kazuto from here. He doesn't look like he was too keen on the idea, which is putting me on edge a bit.

After what seemed like a quick internal debate Kazuto spoke up. "Sure thing." He turned to Yuna. "Welcome to the party Yuna! I'm Kirito."

He thrust out his hand for her to shake. She took his outstretched hand with both of hers and shook vigorously. "Thank you so much! I promise I'll pull my own weight and support the party!" She shrieked enthusiastically. "So how many people are in the party?"

Kazuto and I just looked at one another. "Just the two of us." We said in unison.

"Really? And you guys fight on the front lines all on your own?" Yuna asked.

"Yeah, most of the times," Kazuto said.

"Yuna, you're not quite ready for the front lines yet, but I'll be happy to help you get stronger," I said while standing up and positioning myself next to Kazuto.

Yuna stood up as well, facing the two of us. "Thank you again, Sinon. Well, it's starting to get a little late. I think I'm gonna head home." She said. She started to walk off. She made it little ways away before turning around. "It was nice meeting you Kirito!" She yelled back at us.

She whipped back around and started to run. _She really is a nice girl._ I thought. She barely knew me and knew Kazuto even less, and yet she was still so warm and nice to us.

I looked at Kazuto, who still had his eyes trained on her. Before I introduced Yuna to him, he had a forced smile on his face. Whatever the "thing" that he was doing was, my guess is that he wasn't going to tell me what it was and that it didn't go the way he wanted it to. _Worth asking though._

"Kazuto?"  
"Hmm?"

"What was it that you were doing earlier. What was the reason that you gave me the day off?" I questioned.

His face fell. "It's nothing important. How was your day off?"

He was obviously evading the question. _I figured he'd do this._ I thought. _Oh well. He'll tell me when he wants to._ Truth be told, I didn't know whether I'd learn what he was doing today or not. I just hoped it wasn't a matter of trust. If he didn't _trust_ me enough to tell me what it was, then I'd be hurt. But if it was for almost any other reason, then I could understand.

"You know, little bit of this, little bit of that. I did have a lot of fun though." I responded. It may not have been the subject I wanted to be on, but it was a conversation nonetheless

"You ready to head back home too?"

"Yeah, I'm exhausted." Considering that we live on the eleventh floor and we are currently on the fifth it was gonna take a little while to get there. Granted, we could use teleport crystals, but those things are expensive. To get home, we have to walk all the way to the central city and to the teleport gate. From there, it would only be a five-minute walk.

"Let's go then." He said smiling. He started walking in direction that Yuna had walked off in. The direction of the center city.

I followed right behind him intent on reaching home and taking a well-deserved nap.

We were walking for almost thirty minutes before things went wrong… again. Go figure, why not. We can't seem to catch a break, could we? We walked through a field with huge rock and boulders littering expanse. Half way through the field, Kazuto stopped in his tracks and took a defensive stance. His detection skill was acting up. I know this because mine was doing the same thing, and his is a higher level than mine.

A man walked out behind one of the boulders. Imagine my surprise (or at least my irritation) when I recognized the guy. _Xaxa. Why the hell not!_ He stood there casually staring us down.

"I hear that you have been looking for me Kirito?" He questioned. "What in this world could you possibly want with me?" I could practically hear the grin on his face and the mock-confusion in his voice.

I, on the other hand, was genuinely confused. _Isn't he here to harass me more? Is he here for Kazuto?_ These were only some of the questions flying through my head.

"Yeah, I've been looking for you. I've been looking for you because of you harassing Sinon. I'm gonna send you to jail." Kazuto growled. He seemed so angry. He drew his sword, and I did the same.

"Oh calm down. Don't get your panties in a twist." Xaxa taunted.

"Why don't you come fight me? Then we'll see who has their panties in a twist!"

"As much as I'd like to do that, unfortunately, I have plans elsewhere. Although I might take you up on that offer sometime… Kazuto Kirigaya." Shortly after that last remark, he vanished. He didn't teleport, he just vanished into thin air, leaving us standing there in a state of shock and disbelief.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Shino's POV

Kazuto and I stood there in a perplexed silence. We just found out that not only does Xaxa know my real name, he know's Kazuto's real name as well. Things were starting to get frightening. Our eyes were fixed on the very spot where Xaxa stood. Where he disappeared.

"What…" I started.

"The hell!" Kazuto screamed.

Up until this point, we had assumed that Xaxa was fixated on me, now though, we weren't so sure. Or rather, I wasn't. I can't speak for Kazuto. If Xaxa knew both our names, this could present a host of new problems. Kazuto proposed that it Xaxa could have been a hacker who found my real name from the Argus' servers and used the NerveGear's image of me to recognize me. But what are the odds that he would have found Kazuto's name as well?

"Kazuto? Do you think that this guy knows us back in the real world?"

"I don't know. But if that's the case, I don't recognize him."

"Do you think… that maybe he was some sort of stalker?" I asked worriedly.

"Again, I don't know. Why would he be stalking us?"

"You got me on that one." I said hesitantly. I didn't even want to think about someone stalking us.

A thought pushed its way into my mind. _All of these accusations have been conjecture, based our interpretation of what he's said to us. We may have him wrong. But if we don't, it's possible that our bodies are in danger. There's no telling what could go wrong. He too is stuck in this world, this game of death. But what if…_ I shook my head, trying to clear it of the terrifying concept that my mind had thought up. _There's no way that our bodies are at risk. He's stuck here like the rest of us._

Kazuto kept his eyes fixated on the spot that Xaxa stood, not even looking back at me when asking: "How do you think he just disappeared like that?"

"Well, it wasn't a teleport, so it has to have been a special Item." Then it hit me. "Kazuto, the ring that he got from the final attack bonus!"

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."

"Use a teleport crystal to go back to our room at the inn, I have a sneaking suspicion that nothing is what we think it is."

I didn't respond, not verbally at least. In response to his order, I got out on of my few teleport crystals, called out the name of the inn, and was immediately teleported in front of the building. The last thing I saw was Kazuto copying my actions.

In the mere seconds, after my teleport was finished, Kazuto appeared right behind me. He rushed passed me, grabbing my arm and dragging me with him into the inn. He was in such a rush that my feet could barely keep up with him. We reached our room and in just as much of a rush, he opened the door and dragged me inside.

He let go of my arm, and walked to the chair, plopping himself down and resting his face in his hands.

"Okay Kazuto, time to spill. What do you think is going on?" I asked pointedly.

"I think that the ring that Xaxa got from that boss grants invisibility. If that is the case, he could have tailed us all the way back to the inn. He could have attacked us, and we wouldn't have even seen it coming."

My eyes grew wide as realization struck me. Memories of my encounter with Xaxa yesterday night came flooding back. " _It was as if he vanished into thin air."_ I figured he just had an extremely high stealth and hiding skill, or maybe he teleported without the polygon effect. But if he had just used a special item to make himself invisible…

"Shino, do you wonder at all why I am so aggressive toward him?" Kazuto's question was from out of nowhere, as if he had something to say, but was beating around the bush. "I mean, all he did, prior to today was knowing your real name right?"

I didn't want him to know about the encounter last night. If I told him, I think that he'd lose it. "Yeah, up until today, he's only known my name."

He stayed eerily still. The next time he spoke, it came out monotonous. "Shino, I know about last night. I heard a recording of everything that he said to you. That's why I'm so aggressive toward him."

I'm pretty sure that my jaw was hanging open. Only one word could pass through my mind clearly after that discovery. _Shit!_

Once my mind could form any coherent thoughts, I translated them to words. "How did you hear about it?" I wasn't going to deny it. I already lied to him. I don't know if that hurt him or pissed him off, so I am not going to continue the charade.

"Today, when I told you to take the day off because I had to do something, I was going to talk with Argo. I was going to ask about any information about Xaxa. I had no going after him. I was trying to get information about him. I just wanted to know if he was dangerous." He started, pausing before continuing on with his explanation. "When I asked Argo about him, she nearly freaked out. She told me that he is 'closet PK'er' and told me that you had a run in with him last night. She also gave me a recording, free of charge."

"So that's how you know about it." It was a simple statement. I couldn't think of any other response to make. "Wait a minute… didn't you go out to look for him that night? If you didn't intend to fight with him, why were you out looking for him?"

"I wanted to talk with him. I wanted to know how he knew your name. I thought that maybe we misunderstood his statement, that maybe it wasn't a threat."

"Still, you shouldn't have gone out on…"

He cut me off before I could finish. "And what if I was wrong, which obviously, I was. He could have killed us both!"

"Goddamnit Kazuto! What if he killed you!? Do you ever think something all the way through!?"

"Yes! I'd do anything to keep you alive! Anything! I don't care if I die, as long as you make it out!"

I was shocked into silence. Our conversation had quickly turned into a fight, which apparently was becoming more and more common. In no small part because of Xaxa. Even still, when we were fighting, Kazuto never ceased to show affection. _Whoever he marries is gonna have a hell of a time fighting with him._ I thought. It was upsetting to think: whoever. But it was more than likely the case, that we wouldn't be together forever. I would like to think that we would, but our relationship started in middle school, and even most relationships formed in high school didn't last until marriage.

As my mind strayed further and further from the argument that Kazuto and I were having, his only seemed to focus in on it.

"When I listened to the recording, I promised myself, that if I ever see him again, I'd deal with him by any means necessary." He had stopped yelling and was speaking in a monotone voice once again. "I'm not mad that you kept it from me. I think I know why you did. Regardless, it still hurts that you felt the need to hid it from me."

I could only think of one thing to do. It probably doesn't fit the situation very well, and there are probably so many different things that I could do. I could only think of this one thing though. I rush toward him, wrapping him in my arms. It was a tight embrace.

I felt a jolt tear through his body, I had caught him off guard with my action. At first, he didn't respond. He just sat there seemingly unresponsive. Then, his arms began to wrap around me. It was an awkward position. He was sitting in a chair, which made it hard. It did, up until Kazuto tightened his grip and pulled me into the chair with him.

We stayed like that for god know how long, holding one another. Any attempt at continuing the argument forgotten. Neither of us wanted to let go, but one of we're going to have to eventually. I started to pull away, with on luck. Kazuto only tightened his grip on me.

This world may be only ones and zeros, but it is so easy to get lost in it. It doesn't matter if the _feeling_ is real. It doesn't matter if the _action_ is real. The only thing that matters is that the person initiating the action means it. Even if every detail is fake, everything that everyone does is real. Every thought comes straight from the source.

I tried to pull away again. Kazuto seemed to get the message and let go of me. I removed myself from the chair, stood up and grabbed his shoulders. I looked him in the eyes. "Kazuto, I'm sorry I didn't tell you about yesterday night. I didn't want you to worry. We'll find a way to take care of him, without killing him, together. Okay?"

The embrace seemed to have little effect on his demeanor. He still seemed pretty solemn. "Yeah, that sounds good. Just promise me that you won't hide something like that from me again. Please."

I smiled. He wasn't was angry, thank God. "I promise. Now _you_ promise _me_ something. Promise me that you won't forfeit your life doing something for me."

It was his turn to smile. "Cross my heart."

I let go of his shoulder and stood up straight again, looking out the window. The sunlight was almost gone. The day flew by at an incredible speed, up until the end. Our talk with Xaxa slowed time to a crawl.

I call it a talk but it was more of a confrontation. Things would have gotten physically (Or is it digitally?) violent, had he not disappeared.

"Kazuto, I think it's time to call it a day. You think that we should change inns just in case?"

"Odds are he knows where we are staying. He can't get us when we're in this room though. I don't know if it would be any help to switch inn's he may already be back here, waiting for us to come out."

"Is that a yes for a no?"

"I'd say that it's pretty futile. Worth a shot though. There were some people in the town square talking about an inn on the far side of the floor. Apparently, the town that it's in is supposed to have some intense quests. There's a warp gate too, no need for a long walk."

"Well let's get going. The longer we sit here the longer he has to catch up."

I walked to the door, opening it quickly. I nearly jumped out of my skin when a face was there to greet me. I let out a high pitch shriek jumping back into our room, stumbling backwards and falling onto my butt. The person in question had a look of horrified shock scrawled on their face.

"What the hell Asuna!? You scared me half to death!" I stopped for a second thinking about what just happened. "And how the hell did you know where we live!? Again!?"

"I wasn't following you this time if that's what you're thinking. I was walking through the town and just so happened to see you two walking in here. I thought it would be nice to pay you a visit." She responded almost immediately.  
"Why!? Don't forget that we were left out of the last boss raid because your party didn't want us there! Why would we be happy to see you!?"

She looked at her feet. "Don't forget, I was left out of the raid too. I didn't even make it there in time for the fight. Although," She said looking up from here feet. She'd sounded dejected up to this point, but now, she sounded extremely serious "I heard that there was only one casualty. Who was it?"

Kazuto spoke up. "It was Kibaou. He tried to charge the boss on his own."

Asuna didn't even look a little upset. "It's a shame that we had to lose a life, a soldier, but Kibaou had been ruling the first floor with an iron fist. He was a tyrant."

I picked myself up from my position on the floor. "He was a tyrant? How so?" I asked.

"He collected heavy taxes from all the players still on the first floor. If you didn't have the money, they would harass you to no end. It's even gone as far as to have some threats thrown around. The new leader is sure to be better. His name is Thinker. I've met him and he's really a nice guy."

"It sucks that he was so terrible to people." My statement seemed careless, contrary to the truth. I genuinely felt pity for the people. I was just in a tad bit of a rush. "But can we please continue this conversation elsewhere. We really have to leave, like right now."

I rushed over to Kazuto grabbing his wrist and dragging him with me. I grabbed Asuna's wrist as well. I don't know why I did it. It wasn't necessary for her to come with us, but for some reason, I felt as though I should.

I pulled them both from the inn, not bothering to stop at the front desk to cancel our room. We have to accept the payment, if we don't, the room will be vacated. I dragged through the town square and to the teleport gate.

"Kirito, what's the town's name?" I asked.

"It's Toraburu."

His saying the name of the town activated the warp, taking all three of us there. When the warp was finished, I jumped off the warp gate with the two of them in tow. I started frantically looking for an inn. We needed a place to stay and fast. It was almost nightfall, and sleeping outside was dangerous.

The Kazuto and Asuna were both incredibly silent. When I found the inn, I let go of their wrists and walked to the NPC behind the counter. "Do you have any rooms?"

The phrase activated the NPC's code, having him give me the price. When I accepted that, he gave me a key and a room number. I rushed to find the room. Kazuto followed not far behind, and behind him, Asuna.

When we got to the room I opened the door, walked in and yanked the two of them in with me.

"Mind telling me what this is about?" Asuna asked.

Kazuto answered in a deadpan voice. "There's a creepy stalker named Xaxa following us. He's a PK'er and knows the real us somehow."

Asuna just looked at him sideways, as if he'd grown another head. "That's a joke right? Seriously though, what's going on?"

I took over for Kazuto. "I think it would be easier to show you." I turned my attention to Kazuto. "Can I have the recording please?"

He seemed reluctant but handed it over nonetheless. I took it from him and walked right in front of Asuna. I leaned in and whispered in her ear. "Go listen to this in the bathroom. I don't want Kazuto to have to hear it again."

She did as she was told and walked over to the bathroom (Which held no purpose other than showers), opening it, and walking in, closing the door behind her.

We sat down on the bed, waiting quietly, waiting for her to finish the recording. It was probably really long, depending on how much it had caught. We can only hope that Asuna will help us out. _Maybe that's why I dragged her along. Maybe, somehow, I subconsciously knew she would help us._

Four minutes past, then the bathroom door flew open. She stomped out and handed me the recording. "Alright, whatever you two plan to do to him, I'll help. Let's get this sick fuck!"


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Suguha's POV

It's been several months since the ten-thousand players who logged on to Sword art online have been trapped. Normally this crisis wouldn't have affected me much. Not directly anyway. I'm not the kind of person to play video games. I prefer physical activity, especially Kendo. However, in this case, it affects me a lot. It has affected me in more ways than I care to admit.

My brother, or rather, my cousin, (As I had found out shortly after game's launch) was one of the ten thousand players who logged on. One of the ten thousand players whose lives were at risk because of some sick, twisted idea of a game. On top of that, my best friend Shino Asada was stuck in that world as well.

Right now, I'm sitting next to Kazuto's bedside, staring off into space, and hoping and praying that one day soon, they will beat the game, or that we will be able to find a way to free them from that world. The day this all started, there was a warning on all media outlets. It explained every aspect of what happened. That didn't mean that I understood it. Just that I know what they have to do to survive.

This was something that I would do often. Every day in fact. There hasn't been a single day that I haven't come to the hospital to visit Kazuto and Shino. Sometimes I would just sit there, staring at them, or off into space. Other times, I'd find myself talking to them as if they could hear me. It may just be wishful thinking, but I like to believe that somehow my words make it to them.

I stopped staring blankly at the wall and turned my attention to Kazuto. "Please, Kazuto… wake up…"

My thoughts started to trail back to the day that this all started, November sixth of last year.

 _"Kazuto! I'm back from practice!" I called out. There was no response._

Oh yeah! _I thought._ His game officially launches today! _I looked at the clock. It was nearly seven._ That's weird… He would have logged out to eat by now, Right? _It was strange for Kazuto to miss any meals. I walked into the kitchen. He wasn't in there, so he has to still be logged on._ Oh well, best I can do is make food for when he does log out. 

_I set to work making a salad, my personal favorite and specialty. Half-way through though, it started to seem just a little too quiet. I was so used to talking with Kazuto that I almost_ needed _some sort of noise going on. I reached for the remote and switched on the TV. I started to click through the channels looking for something to watch. Finally, I landed on the news. I set the remote down and got back to work on the salad.  
_

 _I wasn't paying much mind to it but a few select words caught my attention. "A tragic incident involving over two-hundred players of the VRMMORPG 'Sword Art Online' has swept through Japan." I stopped everything I was doing and my head shot up to the TV. My eyes were probably as wide as saucers and fear had gripped the very root of my soul. "These two-hundred people in question have passed away, leaving countless mourners behind. There has been a warning broadcasted to all news stations and social media outlets, warning against the removal of the NerveGear consoles. It has been attempted, resulting in more than half the casualties."_

 _Upon hearing this I whipped around, running through the kitchen and up the stairs to Kazuto's room._ Please just be asleep! Please don't be using the NerveGear! _I thought, panicked. When I swung the door open, my prayers went unanswered. He was hooked up to the NerveGear._

 _I did the only thing I could think of in my panic. I whipped out my phone and called emergency services. Within ten minutes there were ambulances and police cars parked front of the house.  
_

 _Two paramedics rushed in. One stopped right in front of me, while the other rushed to Kazuto. "Don't worry. There's a two-hour allowance to be disconnected from the network. He'll be fine." I could hear the sympathy in his voice. He was just trying to comfort me. He wasn't even sure if Kazuto would be alright himself. "We'll get him to the hospital and back into the network before anything bad happens, alright?"  
_

 _I simply nodded. I think I was about to have a panic attack. My breathing was becoming ragged, and the only thing I could focus on was how lifeless Kazuto's body looked._

 _Then another single cohesive thought found its way into my head._ Shino was playing that game too! _"Sir, I have another friend who has this game! Can you go check on her!? Please!?" I begged._

 _"We have to get your brother to the hospital as fast as we can. Go down to one of the officers and ask them to take you there."_

 _I nodded again. I wasn't thinking clearly anymore. Any Thoughts that I could formulate were clouded and muddled. I ran down the stairs of my house, out front where the officers were parked. "Officer! I have another friend who I think is using the NerverGear! Can you take me to her house to check on her!?"_

 _The officer looked at me with sympathy in his eyes. "Yeah. Get in."_

 _I climbed into the back of the car. "So where does your friend live?" The officer asked._

 _"I don't know the actual address. It's about a thirty-minute drive from here. I can tell you when to turn." I responded urgently.  
_

 _He pulled out of our house's driveway, and I began to give him directions. When we got there the officer got out and opened the back door. I ran up the stairs to here apartment._

 _Now, Shino had long since given me the key. I came over to her apartment most weekends just to hang out with her, and when she started playing Sword Art Online, she gave me a key. "Since I can't hear you knock on the door when I'm playing, you should have a key."_

 _I thought it was silly at the time. If she was playing, I wouldn't interrupt her, but she insisted. Never had I been so thankful for someone being so insistent._

 _I knocked on the door and when she didn't answer, I began to panic. I unlocked the door and rushed in. It didn't take long for me to find here. Seconds actually. Her apartment is so small that there wasn't anywhere that I really had to_ look _. She lay there in her bed, NerveGear on her head._

 _The police officer that drove me here and his partner walked in behind me. Even more, sympathy was written in their expressions. I stood there, too shocked to move. I didn't know what was going on. I was scared and had no way to know what was happening to the two of them.  
_

 _At some point, the police must have called for an ambulance, because not long after I barged into Shino's apartment, paramedics came rushing in to take Shino to a hospital as well.  
_

 _After that, the police took me to the precinct, where they asked me if I had called my parents. When I told them no, they asked me to do so. So I did. I called my mom and explained to her what had happened. I could hear her crying on my end of the phone._

The entire thing was still fresh in my mind as if it had happened yesterday. I'd probably never forget what happened that day. Never have I been so scared in my life. That fear lives on though. Every day, I have to come to the hospital in fear that Kazuto or Shino won't wake up.

Fortunately, Kazuto and Shino were taken to the same hospital. Unfortunately, though, no one could get into Shino's phone. It had a passcode on it, and it didn't seem as though anyone could get into it. We couldn't reach any member of her family. The police did look into it, and they did find out who her mother was. But she was out of the country, and no one seemed to know her phone number. Without knowing the provider, the police couldn't ask them what the number was, and even if they did, the provider most likely wouldn't have given the number out.

The police also found her grandparent, who lived far away, and couldn't afford a flight here, or to stay here. The police said that they sounded incredibly concerned for their grandaughter's health, but just couldn't afford to pay for the medical expenses as well as a flight and stay here.

In addition to that, her grandparents didn't even have Shino's mother's phone number. Apparently, they didn't get along well.

It was a strange situation, but my mom opted to pay for Shino's hospitalization as well. I wasn't protesting in any way, but when I asked her why she chose to do that, she simply said. "You and Kazuto are really close with her. She needs help, and her grandparents can barely afford to pay the bills. It's just the right thing to do."

Now one of two things would cross my mind when I thought about that. One is that my mother is some sort of saint. Two is that there was something that she wasn't telling me. One or the other.

I was shocked out of my deep state of thought when I heard doctors rushing down the hall. Everytime that I was here and doctors went rushing down the hall, my heart would stop. Anytime I was with Kazuto or Shino, I was worried that one or the other had been lost. This was no exception.

I've already been with Kazuto for an hour, and as much as I want to stay with him, I need to visit Shino as well. On top of that, I know that those doctors weren't heading here, to Kazuto. But I wasn't sure if they were heading to Shino or not.

I quickly stood from my chair, situated next to Kazuto's bed and rushed out the door to the room. Shino's room was a little ways down the hall. I started to run toward her room, once again begging to whatever god or deity that would listen, _Please be alright!_

I got right in front of her room. There were no doctors or nurses. _Thank god! They weren't rushing here._ I thought. I walked in and stopped in my tracks. There was a boy, around my age, sitting in a chair next to Shino's bed. He was acting strangely. I could have sworn that I heard him mumbling to himself.

"Oh, hello…" I said, trailing off. I was getting a weird vibe from him.

He whipped around so fast that I almost jumped back in surprise. His eyes were wide and there was something behind his eyes. It put me on edge. He was, for lack of a better word, frightening.

"Hi," he started. "Are you here to visit Asada as well?"

"Ye-Yeah… She is a good friend of mine. I'm Suguha Kirigaya. What's your name?"

Despite the aura that he was giving off and the deep feeling of unease that he brought about, I was trying to be cordial with him. "My name is Kyouji Shinkawa."

"I've never heard her mention your name… How did you know her?"

"You know… school." He said, getting up from his chair and heading toward the door, stopping right before exiting "It was nice to meet you, Kirigaya." He said. Then he walked out of the room.

I walked to the chair that he was using and sat down. _Something about him just wasn't right._ I thought. _If he actually knew her from school, wouldn't I know him? Shino told me that she didn't have friends until Kazuto and me. Since then, we've almost alway been together at school. I would have known him. But I didn't._ Something wasn't adding up. _Why would Shino never have mentioned a new friend?  
_

I stared at Shino. _Why did this have to happen?_ _Why did Kazuto and Shino have to get stuck in that hell of a world? Why did this have to happen to anyone?_ I thought.

I stayed with Shino for about an hour, then got a call from my mom. She was asking when I'd be home for dinner. "I'll be there soon." I told her, getting out of the chair. "I'm leaving the hospital now."

"Alright honey. So how are Kazuto and Shino doing?" she asked.

"They haven't woken up. But they are still looking somewhat healthy. Skinny, but healthy." I didn't know how to go about telling her how the two of them were doing. I couldn't bring myself to say 'They're still alive' because I didn't like the idea that they could die.

"That's good. Hurry home."

"I will mom. Bye. See you soon."

I hung up my phone, glanced once at Shino. "Don't give up. Keep fighting." I told her, whether she could hear me or not. I walked out the door of her room and right back down to Kazuto's. I glanced in and said, "You too Kazuto. Don't give up. I'll be back tomorrow."

After that I left the hospital, hopping onto my bike and heading home.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Suguha's POV

Yesterday was a pretty average day for me. I'm pretty sure that I've already said it, but I visit them each and every day for a long while. Today though, I was going to visit them a bit earlier. The reason being that some of my friends from Kendo wanted to hang out with me today. The catch was that they wanted to hang out around the time that I visit Kazuto and Shino in the hospital.

Instead of visiting them later, I was going to visit them in the morning. That way, I could spend plenty of time there, and still go to the mall with my friends. It may sound terrible, saying that I still really want to hang out with my other friends. But as long as I still managed to visit them then I think that It's fine. Besides, if I had to choose between the two, I'd obviously choose to visit The two of them.

Anyway, I got up around nine and started to get ready to leave. Shower, dress, and make breakfast. Pretty much what you would expect of a morning routine. After finishing up, I left the house on my bike.

My mom had left a lot earlier than I had even woken up. She works really hard and has to get up early to go to work. That and she gets up extra early so that she can visit Kazuto and Shino in the hospital. I would have gone with her, but I needed to take my bike so that I had a way to get around when I was done at the hospital. If I had gone with her, she probably would have had to leave, and I would have had to walk. That would be no fun.

The ride to the hospital wasn't very long, but it always seems longer than it actually is. The anticipation of visiting them just seemed to prolong the time. Or maybe it was the fear. The fear that I would get there and their rooms would be empty. That they would be gone… forever.

Every time I thought that that might be the case I had to remind myself that the hospital would have given my mom a call, albeit a reluctant one. No one wants to tell a mother that their child has died. Even if it is adoptive. Anyway, the point is that we'd know about it. I wouldn't walk into the hospital without knowing.

When I got to the hospital, it was pretty empty. Considering it is still pretty early, and a lot of people are at work, that shouldn't come as a surprise. I walked up to the front desk, grabbing the attention of the receptionist.

"Suguha Kirigaya? Here to see Kazuto Kirigaya and Shino Asada?" She asked warmly, all the while maintaining a smile.

"Yes, ma'am." I responded.

I should explain. As you know, I visit the hospital every day, without fail. Because of my constant being here, most of the hospital staff knows who I am. Especially the receptionists. You have to stop at their desk in order to visit anyone in the hospital. So I have seen and talked to most if not all of them. I have even learned some of their names.

"Go right ahead. If you need anything, let us know." She said. The pity she had for me was more than clear in her voice.

"Thank you ma'am, and I will." I said, walking past the desk, to the elevator. I clicked the button and waited.

The elevator arrived shortly after, and luckily, it wasn't crowded. I guess I should have expected that. Just like I should have expected the hospital to be empty. Those two kind of go hand in hand.

 _Third floor, here I come!_ I thought, selecting the floor number on the panel. The doors slid closed and the elevator started to move.

I stood there in silence. There wasn't even any tacky music to listen to. I started to fidget with my hands. I had developed a habit of doing that. It's not like I have ADHD or anything like that. It's just that when I'm alone in silence, I get a strange feeling, and I do anything I can to distract from that feeling.

I heard a 'Ding' and the elevator doors slid open, allowing me to walk onto the third floor. I started in the direction of Kazuto's room. _I'll visit Kazuto first, then I'll go see Shino._ I thought.

When I got to his room, I walked in and took a seat next to his seemingly lifeless body. "Hey, Kazuto. I'm back again." I started. "I'm sure if you could speak, you'd ask why I came earlier than usual."

I wasn't expecting any response. His mind, after all, was trapped in another world. It was just relaxing, talking to Kazuto after so long. Even if there is no response.

"Some friends of mine wanted to hang out when I usually come. But I couldn't just skip out on coming to visit you and Shino. You two mean the world to me." I explained, grabbing his hand and squeezing gently.

I know it was just my imagination, but I could have sworn that his hand squeezed mine back. The thought almost brought tears to my eyes. In fact, I was trying my best to fight them off.

I spent _almost_ an hour with Kazuto. Talking about random things. I told him about some funny things that had happened at home, at school, and even on the news. Anything that he would have found interesting, I told him about. Especially stories about a girl named Takanashi. She would always spout things off about _"The Eye of the Wicked Lord"_ and what not. Kazuto always enjoyed her outburst. He would say "It's just so refreshing to see some who is not afraid to be themselves." and "It's better to grow up being who you want to be, rather than what everyone else expects you to be."

Aside from funny stories, I told him about recent events. Things like world events always seemed to catch his attention. On top of that, I told him about the newest and most popular games. I myself don't play them, but I keep up with them just for Kazuto.

I know why Kazuto got so into games, and it hurt. He was doing it to avoid me. He found out that we weren't really siblings and that my mom was his aunt. He was trying to escape reality because his life had basically been flipped upside down. But regardless of why he may have started submerging himself in video games, it had grown into a genuine passion. That's why I stay up to date on games. So that I can tell him about them.

I got up from the chair I was sitting in to talk to Kazuto. _Well, it's time for me to visit Shino._ I thought, turning toward the door and walking out. Before going to Shino's room though, I turned around.

"I'll see you later Kazuto." I said in a whisper.

The time I spent with him today flew by. It doesn't help that I'm used to spending a lot more time with the each of them. But it couldn't be helped, I was going to have to go out, or go back home, to get lunch before meeting up with my friends.

I continued down the hall to Shino's room. When I got there, everything was just as it was in Kazuto's room. There was no difference. And this time, there was no guy here that gave me a terrifying feeling.

I walked in and sat down next to Shino. I repeated the same actions as I did with Kazuto. I talked to her, with no response. I told her stories of things that I think she would have found interesting. Other than a few small details, my visit to each of them was relatively the same.

Half an hour into my visit with Shino, I heard footsteps behind me. I whipped around, more than half expecting to find the boy that was here yesterday. I was surprised (And overjoyed.) to find that I was wrong. The man who was standing there didn't give me a bad feeling at all. In fact, he seemed to emanate a warm and friendly aura.

"Oh, hello!" He said, donning a huge smile. "Are you here to visit Miss Asada as well?" He asked.

"Yeah, I am. My name is Suguha. Suguha Kirigaya. May I ask your name?" I responded. It may sound old-fashioned and strange, but that was the way I was raised.

"But of course! My name is Seijiro Kikuoka." He proclaimed.

"So how do _you_ know Shino?" I asked. It may have come off more pointed that I had intended, but hey, last time it was a guy who gave me a serial killer vibe. Could you blame me?

"I don't." He said flatly.

"Huh?"

"You see, I work for the government. My division sends me to this hospital every few day to check on all of the game's beta tester. They want a report on all those who are still alive."

His response made me really angry. _So much for his aura of warmth and friendliness!_ I thought. He was coming to the hospital only to mark them off as a number. To keep track of their lives as if they're nothing more than tally marks.

"So to you they are just numbers?!" I snapped.

"You misunderstand. I know better than anyone what it's like in there. I want every last one of them to make it out alive and it greatly disturbs me to see children on the edge of death." He said. "It's just my division that wants this information. The beta testers are the best chance of clearing the game. So they are having tabs kept on them."

My newly found skepticism did not fade. "What do you mean you know what it's like in there?"

"Just what it sounds like. I know what the game looks like, I know what the monsters look like, and worst of all, I know how easy it is to die. The beta testers aren't just tallies to me. Most of them, I would consider my friends." He said. His voice had a dark and sorrowful tone.

Now my skepticism was starting to fade. _Maybe I was jumping to conclusions. Maybe my initial read on him was right._ I thought. It seemed as though, from his words, that he genuinely cared about the beta testers.

"Anyway," He started. "I have to go finish my job. I hope to speak with you again sometime Miss Kirigaya. Hopefully under less depressing circumstances." He said, walking back out of the room before I could respond.

"I don't know _what_ to think about that guy!" I said to myself.

I turned back to Shino. _He said that it was easy to die in there. He described it as if it was hell._ I thought. It's almost a guarantee that Shino and Kazuto are fighting for their lives in there.

I buried my face and my hands and let out a long sigh. I lifted my dead once again, looking at Shino. _I wonder what the two of them are doing right now?_

 **A/N: Okay, first things first. I'm so sorry for not posting sooner. I had my wisdom teeth pulled, and the pain made it almost impossible to focus on anything, I just couldn't focus on the story. (That and I was on Drugs...) Secondly, I have called into question my writing skill. I feel as though it has been on a decline, so there may be gaps between my updates, writers block and whatnot. Lastly, I have posted another short story to make for the long update time. Those of you who are interested, the tital is "Alcoholic Anecdote".**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Shino's POV

What were we doing right now? Well, after Asuna's "agreement" to help us, we all went to bed. Since It was late and her inn was a ways away, even with teleport gates, we let her stay the night in our room. Since there was only one bed, Kazuto slept in a chair (Yes, again.) As for Asuna, she slept next to me in the bed.

After sleeping the remainder of the night away and waking up, that brings us to now. We are discussing how to deal with Xaxa. So far, the ideas the attack him and to report him have been spitballed. Unfortunately, neither of those options were very plausible. The reporting system never gets checked by our evil overlord, Kayaba. And attacking him would end one of two ways. We would kill him, and become murderers as well as red players, or we would hesitate to kill him and would wind up dead.

"So let me get this straight," Kazuto said. "We want to deal with him in a way that will last. But at the same time, we can't get violent?"

"I didn't say it would be the easiest thing to do. But I would much rather not die, and not be a killer." I responded

Asuna, who had gone silent after offering up the idea of reporting him, spoke up. "Sinon, we could just try to report him. Who knows, maybe the GM will check it for once."

"I have… thirteen times. No matter how many times I report him, nothing ever happens." I said flatly.

Kazuto's eyebrows furrowed together as if he was agitated, or think really hard about something. "Maybe we could use the system…"

I looked at him with a questioning gaze. "What do you mean, "Use the system'?"

"Well, when a player tries to harass or assault another player in any way other than combat, a flag appears in that victim's view, right? That's the system allowing the option to send the assailant to jail. If we could do that, he would be stuck in prison, and we wouldn't have to worry about him again." Kazuto explained.

"Well, that sounds like the most useful idea…"

"The only problem is," Kazuto interrupted "is that you would have to grab you or assault you. I'm not going to use a plan that puts you in that kind of situation."

I fell backwards, sprawling out over the bed, which I had been sitting on. "Then what the hell are we gonna do?" I whined. (Yes, I whined.)

I lifted my head to look at Kazuto and Asuna. Both had an expression of contemplation and deep thought. It was an almost symmetrical look. _Freaky._ I thought. _They're more alike that I would have thought…_ _I don't like it._

Kazuto sighed. "All that's left is to attack him outright, or to challenge him to a fight."

I thought about it for a minute. "Kirito," I started hesitantly. "I want to try sending him to prison."

"Absolutely not!"

Asuna spoke up again "It might actually be the best option. If it works, then he'll end up in prison, and if not, we'll both be there to back her up and stop him in his tracks, no matter the cost."

"Kirito… Please don't argue. I think that this is the best choice. Trust me, please."

He looked apprehensive and like he wanted to argue, but he didn't "Okay," He said quietly, barely over a whisper. Then his voice got a bit louder. "I'll trust you. I'll go with whatever you want to do."

I smile at him with appreciation. I half expected him to turn down the idea and fight it to the last breath if necessary. I was abundantly relieved that I wouldn't have to fight with him to try the plan. Arguing with Kazuto was exasperating. It was like trying to convince a brick wall to move.

"Thank you." I responded.

Asuna looked more confused than anything. "So, now that that's decided, there's one major problem that you're forgetting. How do we find Xaxa? I mean every time you've seen him he's found you right? So how are you going to find him? Or do you already have a plan for that too?" 

It hit me like a bullet train. _How did I not think of that? How are we going to find him? Are we going to have to let him come to us?_ Where some of the questions running through my head.

"Ehhhhh…"

Her expression was flat. "That would be a no then." She stated.

Kazuto spoke up then. "If she goes out in the open, he'll probably find her. He has every other time. All she has to do is walk around for a little while, pretending to do something that she normally would. If or when he shows up, that's when we put the plan into action."

"Well aren't you just the man with a plan?" Asuna asked, a smile appearing on her face. She said it almost as if she was teasing him.

The way that she acted to and around Kazuto made me mad for some reason. It's not like she flirts with him… _Or does she? Everyone flirts in a different way. What if that's her way?_

I never thought of myself as the clingy or jealous type. Apparently, though, I can be. I guess I've never had enough experience with relationships (Or you know, any.) to know whether or not I would be those things.

Asuna's voice snapped me back to reality. "So when are we gonna put this plan into action?" She asked.

"As soon as we can." I said. "Preferably right now."

Kazuto looked at me funny. "Right now?"

"Yeah, I prefer not to be stalked. The sooner that he is in prison the better." I responded.

"You do realize that there is a chance that this won't go the way that you want it to? A chance that we may have to fight him?" Asuna asked.

"Yeah, I know. I'm gonna try to get him to leave the safe zones for that reason. I won't be any real danger, but he will. I have you two backing me up. That and I don't think that he wants me dead." I answered. My statement just seemed to make Kazuto more and more skeptical of the plan.

"Anyway, let's go." I said. "We have a plan, let's make it work!"

I practically jump up from the bed and made my way to the room's door. I opened it without a moment's hesitation. Kazuto and Asuna, on the other hand, seemed very hesitant to move from their positions. I stood there in the doorway, looking at them.

"Well come on! Let's go!"

"Sinon, we want to catch the guy too, but shouldn't we plan this out a bit more thoroughly? I mean what if there's something that we didn't account for. What if he brings friends this time? What if there are too many of them to handle?" Asuna questioned.

"She's right." Kazuto agreed. "There are too many contingencies. We need to sit and brainstorm all the scenario's that we can think of, and come up with some sort of countermeasure for them."

I still wanted to leave, but I could see their point. If any of that stuff happened, it wouldn't end well for any of us. I walked back into the room, closing the door behind me and heading back to the bed.

I plopped down. "Alright, let's brainstorm." I said.

The brainstorming took another hour, or maybe it was two. I don't even know. In the end, though, we had come up with quite of a few scenarios and how to deal with them.

Some of them were: "What if he brings friends?", "What if he is too deadly?","What if he's able to cheat the system?", and "What if we think we have it, then he turns the tables?"

The answer to most of these, (and most of the other contingencies) was Teleport Crystals. The quickest form of escape.

"Alright, now that the planning part is over, can we please go?" I prompted impatiently.

"Yeah, we're as ready as we can be." Kazuto said. "Let's go and put an end to this guy's freedom."

This time, when I got up and opened the door, we all actually left.

While walking out of the inn, I had the strangest feeling. We weren't even ten meters from the inn when I looked back. The sign read "Toraburu Inn" The name means something, I know it does. The only problem is that I can't remember what it was that the name meant. It really bothered me, for more than one reason. For starters, the name gave me a bad feeling.

Then there's the fact that I should know what it means.

I turned back toward the two of them, who had not stopped, and shook those thoughts out of my head. _What we are doing is more important than the stupid name on that sign. I'll find out what it means after this monster is locked up._ I picked up my pace, just enough to catch up with them.

"So where do you want to start?" I asked. We had a list of places that it would be the most likely for him to show up. We were going to try them all and then some.

"Let's start in the field on the east side. The monsters there are a little lower leveled, so you can act like you're doing some solo grinding. Also, there's a lot of environment details that would make it easier to hide. Tall grass, trees and hills. Stuff like that. We could use it to get the drop on Xaxa if he shows up." Kazuto responded.

"Sounds like a plan." I stated simply.

So that's exactly what we did. We trekked all the way to the eastern fields. It was another hour before we got there. To put it simply, this field was not close in any sense of the word. The time did give me time to prepare myself mentally though. Up to this point, I was jumping into things head first without thinking. I was _too_ eager to catch Xaxa.

Once we entered the field, it was time to separate. I kept straight on, into the heart of the field, where the stronger of the weaker monsters are. Kazuto and Asuna flanked the either side of me, just far enough away that they could get there quickly if need be. They stayed out of my sight and coincidently, if he showed up, Xaxa's sight as well. Despite that I couldn't see _them_ I'm sure that they could see me just fine.

I wandered around the field, looking for a monster to kill. None of them in this field would present any real challenge for me. My level was high and I'm pretty good at the game as it is. But Xaxa shouldn't know that. As long as I made it look like it was challenging for me, he shouldn't suspect that It's a trap. The operative word being shouldn't. He seems to know his way around the system. If he somehow knew what my level and skill are, then he would probably figure out that something is wrong. _Dang, maybe we should revise this plan. There are way too many maybes, probablys, and ifs involved._

The first monster I came across was, of course, no real threat. I did draw out the battle though. Just to make it look like I was having a hard time. I repeated this process for about forty minutes. After that, I was pretty much ready to give up on this location.

I just defeated another monster when the tall grass around me started to rustle. _Xaxa?_ _Or maybe it's Kazuto and Asuna, coming to tell me we're trying somewhere else?_ Either way, I shifted the sword in my hand, getting ready for whatever it was.

Someone or something jumped from the bush suddenly. I jumped back, startled by the abruptness.

I looked at what had just jumped out at me. It was a plain rabbit. _You've gotta be kidding me. I got the crap scared out of me by a freaking rabbit._ I lowered my sword, lowering my guard. _Not like rabbits are dangerous. Rabbits don't turn into some scary monster or boss. That would just be ridiculous.  
_

I opened my menu and navigated to the friend chat window. I selected Kazuto's name and sent him a message. _"I don't think that he's coming. We should move on to one of the other areas. Let's try the north fields."_ I closed his chat window and opened Asuna's, her the same message.

Not even thirty seconds later, I got a reply from Kazuto. _"Okay. Go ahead and make you way in that direction. I'll send a message to Asuna telling her to follow from a distance."_

Right after I finished reading that I got a message from Asuna. _"Just got the message from Kazuto. I'll be right behind you."_

Having confirmation from both of them, I turned my walk in the direction of the north field. It was a lot easier to get there than it was to get to the east field. It was a shorter walk that the walk from the inn to the field.

Once there, I didn't bother checking in with Kazuto or Asuna. I got straight to work. Hunting monsters, grinding and acting as bait is an important job you know. I was sure that there were right behind me anyway.

That's pretty much how all of the baiting went. I would spend forty or so minutes hunting monsters and then I would move on. We were quickly running out of places to go. That and we were running out of sunlight at an alarming rate. Of course, the sun wasn't moving fast, but when you are in the middle of something, you stop paying attention to the time that passes and if flies by without you paying much mind to it.

Right now, we are actually trying to bait him out in a safe zone. Stupid, I know. If Kazuto and Asuna needed to jump in, they wouldn't do much good in a safe zone. But we were out of places to look, other than safe zones. This wasn't working either though.

"I wonder if even psycho stalkers take vacations." I mumbled under my breath.

I opened my menu again, for the umpteenth time today, sending both Kazuto and Asuna a message. _"I think it's about time to call it quits for today. We'll pick this up tomorrow."_

I sat down on a bench in the pavilion, the fatigue of the day catching up with me. Before I knew it I was being joined by Kazuto and Asuna, sitting on either side of me.

"Well, today was a flop." Asuna said dryly. "I mean we didn't even catch a glimpse of Xaxa, let alone catch him."

"Yeah. I'm ready to go home and crash for the night." Kazuto replied, stretching himself out over the back of the bench.

"Well then, let's go back to the inn. Asuna? Do you want to stay at the inn with us again, or do you just want to meet us again tomorrow?" I asked.

She hesitated for a moment as if she wasn't sure. "I think it would be more convenient for all of us if I just stayed with you again. If you're sure that's alright."

I could tell that she had something on her mind. Probably something other than convenience. But even if that is the case, she was right. It would make it a little more convenient for the three of us.

"Yeah, it's fine." I responded, even though most of me was screaming to decline. I already offered. A little late to change my mind.

I got off the bench and back onto my feet. "Back to the inn for all of us it is then."

With that, we started on our way back to the inn. That would be a lot easier, considering that the last place we were trying, just so happened to have a warp gate.

We jumped on. "Toraburu!" I proclaimed to the teleporter. Kazuto and Asuna did the same. After a short moment of nothing but polygons in my vision, I arrived at the town. I stepped away from the warp and waited for the two of them to come through.

While I was standing there, the hair on the back of my neck stood up. _This game is_ way _too realistic._ I thought to myself. _But what triggers that reaction? What causes the hair on someone's neck to stand up?_

Both Kazuto and Asuna materialized at the same time. "Come on. I'm tired and I really want to go to bed." I prompted.

Kazuto smiled as if he thought it was funny. _He probably thinks that I am joking._ "We are, we are."

We walked most of the way back to the inn without any conversation. Any conversation that we _did_ have wasn't worth noting either. I spent the whole time shuffling through items in my inventory. It had gotten a little crowded with junk from all the low leveled monsters dropped throughout the day.

I was still going through it when we got to the inn. I was trashing anything that wasn't even worth selling and keeping that things that might be worth some COL. Kazuto opened the door for Asuna and I. I walked in still completely oblivious to my surroundings.

It didn't take long for me to notice though, that Kazuto and Asuna were not following me in. I also quickly took note of the volume in the pub of the inn. When I had walked in it was loud and full roudy, but now, it was dead silent.

I turned back around to look at Kazuto and Asuna. They were still at the door. Asuna just looked confused, whereas Kazuto's eyes were nearly bulging out of his skull. He looked like he was in shock. Just imagine a comedy where a guy walks into a bar, and he's overcome by the sight that greets him. So much so that his eyes nearly bulge out of his skull and he can't move.

That is basically what had happened.

"What are you guys waiting for. Come on." I said impatiently. Kazuto only pointed in one direction, while Asuna stood there, still trying to figure out… whatever it was she was trying to figure out.

I followed Kazuto's finger, to where he was pointing. My eyes were probably more wide that his. My hands and feet went cold. My throat got dry.

Xaxa was sitting with a group of people in the pub. His expression was something akin to the look on Kazuto's face.

I only had one thought going through my mind at that moment. _Oh… Toraburu… Now I remember. It's the Japanese word for trouble. WELL GOD DAMN!  
_


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Shino's POV

We all stood there in silence. Not one person said a word. Not Kazuto, Asuna, or Xaxa. Not even Xaxa's "friends" (Who had been making a lot of noise up to about two minutes ago) said anything. It was just complete and utter stillness in the pub.

That is, until Xaxa jumped to his feet, followed by his large number of his friends. Not even half a second after he jumped to his feet, I turned around and was sprinting through the door. I grabbed Kazuto's and Asuna's wrist, pulling them with me.

It didn't take long for them to start running with me. The three of us sprinted through the town, trying to make it to the warp gate. Which was, at this point, our best option for escaping.

"Wait a minute… Why are we running!? We had a plan. Why aren't we using it!?" Kazuto yelled, breathing heavily from the running.

"Well," I shouted back. "Let's see, shall we! He caught us off guard, he knows you two are with me, and he has a lot of friends with him!"

"How many do you think there are?" Asuna asked.

"Oh gee, I don't know. Let's stop to count. Get an exact number. I'm sure they'd hold off killing us till then!" I shouted back.

"Well depending on how many there are…" She panted. "We could probably take them, with our level and skill." She retorted.

"Just keep running damn it!" I screamed.

The warp was now in view. Once we get there, we'd be as good as safe. We could teleport anywhere in Aincrad.

Just as we approached the warp, it lit up with a white light. Humanoid shapes materialized form the warp. The light disappeared in a burst of polygons, revealing a group of men who resembled those whom we'd just see with Xaxa.

The group was laughing and throwing banter back and forth, like a group of tight-knit friends. The moment they saw us though, they became deathly silent. Some of their faces even contracted scowls or frowns.

We heard shouts coming from behind us. Xaxa's group had caught up with us. We were stuck between two groups of people, who were obviously PK'ers, due to their red cursors. On either side of us, there were buildings. No alleyways, no means of escape.

"Do you still need a headcount Asuna?" I deadpanned.

"...Eh… No…" She stuttered. "I think I'm good."

We backed into one another, weapons now drawn. This was one of the defensive positions that we had discussed in the case that Xaxa had friends, which he obviously had no shortage of. This strategy, however, did not account for this number of people. It would be a miracle for us to last even five minutes.

Xaxa stepped forward, out of his group of murderers. "Well isn't this a surprise! Here I was thinking that I'd have to come find you again Shino. But no, you came right to me. And hey look, if it isn't loverboy Kazuto!" He shouted, almost as if we were friends who had not seen one another in a long period of time. "And is that Asuna!? Of the _Knights of Blood!?_ What a pleasant surprise!" He continued.

We didn't say a word. We stayed completely silent, focused in on every move that they made. We couldn't afford to get distracted. When you're distracted, you can die. On top of that, talking was a time-tested way of lowering someone's guard. You talk and talk and talk until your target is talking too. Then, when their guard is down you strike. I have no doubt in my mind that's what he's trying to do.

Another man stepped forward. His nametag read: PoH. "I take it that you're the Shino that we've heard so much about?" He inquired.

I still didn't say anything and neither did Kazuto. Asuna, on the other hand, was a different story. "Shino? Kazuto? Are those your real names?"

The PK'ers didn't make a move. We all just stood there, on edge, ready for a fight. There wasn't any way out of this situation. _Or is there?_ I thought.

"Kirito, Asuna, do you have any teleport crystals on you?" I whispered to them in an attempt to prevent the groups on either side from hearing.

PoH tensed up as if he was nervous that we were whispering amongst ourselves. "Hey! I'm the leader of this guild! If I give the order, my guild will attack, and you will die! So stop whispering!"

 _What… an… Idiot!_ I thought. I almost burst out laughing from his words alone. _He just painted a target on himself. If the guild is loyal at all, all we have to do is hold him hostage, and they'll back off. He just gave us a way out!_

"I've got one." Kazuto whispered, trying to be discreet.

"I don't!" Asuna whispered frantically. "Please don't leave me here alone!"

"Don't worry, we're not. Here's the plan. The dipshit who just revealed himself as the leader, we go after him. If we can capture him, then the rest of the guild will back off." I explained.

"Got it. We just need to make sure that we engage in combat first, that way, he can't just send us to jail when we grab him." Kazuto offered.

"Alright." I responded "On the count of three, we go for him. Ready?"

"I'm warning you! You're vastly outnumbered! We. Will. Kill. You!" He shouted confidently.

"One." I said

"I said shut up!" PoH shouted furiously.

"Two." Kazuto responded.

"This is your last warning!" PoH screamed.

"Three" Kazuto and I said in unison. The three of us launched into action

"Kill them all!" PoH shouted. His men charged at us. If we didn't make it to him soon, we were going to end up the PK'ers next victims.

I charged straight for him. I wanted to get out of this without having to kill anyone. (And preferably without dying. Yeah… that last part would be great.) Every time I got a bit closer though, one of his men would come after me. I was having a hard time keeping them at bay without killing them.

I saw Kazuto making it a bit further than I had and Asuna was about half way between Kazuto and me.

Our health bars weren't untouched either. Despite our great efforts and not so great progress, our health bars were just above half.

A boy jumped in front of me. If he wasn't younger than I am, then he couldn't have been much older than me. He was shorter than me by and inch. You wouldn't expect someone so young to be a member of a murder guild, but here he was, ready to fight, to kill. It was so obvious that you could even see the intent to kill in his eyes. He was like a rabid wolf.

He lashed out at me violently, trying to inflict damage. I dodged and sidestepped almost every strike, parrying those that I could not avoid. He was by no means skilled. He had not once used a sword skill but instead, was using his own motions and strikes. If you know anything about the system, then you know that these kinds of attacks always do little damage without a high strength stat. It would be different if you were experienced with sword-play like Kendo or Fencing, but this boy obviously had no prior experience.

Another blow came in. I took note of the opening that it had created and exploited it. I activated one of the many sword skills in my arsenal, and due to his poor stance, skill and position, he had no way to avoid. My sword connected with his stomach and glided straight up. The blade crossed his heart and resulted in a critical hit. The look in his eyes faded. The intent to kill being replaced by an intense and overpowering fear of death.

 _It won't kill him._ I thought. _It will just scare him. Hopefully enough to make him back out._ But as I watched his health bar fall, it didn't stop. _Surely I didn't deal that much damage!_ I panicked. His health bar was getting dangerously low.

Tears started flowing from the boy's eyes. "I don't want to die! God please no!" He cried.

His health bar was almost gone now. _He must have been a really low level! He wasn't even a real threat to me!_

He fell to the ground bawling. "I'll never see my sister again! My mom! My dad!"

He may have been trying to kill me, but I couldn't let him die. I took a healing item out from my inventory and rushed toward him. His health bar was mere pixels away from being completely empty when I used the item. The item burst into polygons, and his health returned to being about one-fourth full.

In SAO, the damage overflows. Any damage that you do will be applied the targets health bar. However, when using a healing item, the damage will overflow into their new health. For example, I just did enough damage to this boy to deplete his health bar completely, and then do another three-fourths of that same health bar. _Thank god I had a full health item._

He stayed there on the ground, bawling. "Thank you! Thank you!"

I turned away from him, once again targeting the leader. After seeing the damage that I inflicted on the boy, the crowd had significantly thinned, more than likely fearing for their lives. However, there was still a lot. And I had a feeling that half of them weren't scared because I spared him, and the other half wasn't afraid because I couldn't inflict that much damage on them.

I searched for Kazuto and found him fighting an entire group of people. _That idiot._ He was closer to the leader than I was, but also had lower health. He seemed pretty level headed about the entire thing. One of the men charged at him, sword point straight at Kazuto. He sidestepped and blocked with his sword. The grinding of metal on metal rang out as the man's blade glided along Kazuto's. When the man was close enough, Kazuto did something that I had never seen him do, not did I know he was capable of. On top of all that, I don't even know if the game would, or should allow things like this. He executed a high roundhouse kick to the man's head.

The kick connected, actually managing to inflict a substantial sum of damage. The man went flying to the side. The other people who had previously looked like they were interested in attacking him, suddenly didn't look so sure of themselves. _Gee, I wonder why?_

I directed my attention to find Asuna. She too was fighting a group. It is kind of hard not to with these many people trying to kill you. The difference between Kazuto and Asuna's fight? Well, Kazuto was mostly being defensive, whereas Asuna was going after them with an extraordinary speed. The men she is fighting are actually cowering. Yes, cowering.

A man charged me while I was distracted with their battles. His word was raised him in a "Vertical Strike" I noticed him almost too late. A second later and I probably would have been a Shino-kabob.

I reacted to him quickly. I took my sword and attacked. The strike connected with his right arm, severing it. His arm fell to the floor and burst into polygons. The wound did not bleed. In fact, the only thing that was inside the body was a glowing read digital grid. An effect appeared under his health bar. "Exsanguination" His health started dropping slowly.

 _So when someone loses a limb, they have a bleeding effect that drains their health. Good to know… I think._

After that, he back off fast, and most of the other people still standing in the way were on edge. However, some of the people who had not yet gotten a swing at me, and some of those who had already backed off were starting to converge on me. I had to act fast.

I made a beeline for the leader and was getting there pretty quickly. He didn't seem panicked though. He seemed perfectly calm. He just lazily drew his weapon. I kept on at him though. Now way I was going to pass up the chance to capture the murder guild leader. And there was sure as hell no way I was going to give up on my only plan and resign myself to death.

I was mere meters away from him and still charging. It hit me then. I haven't seen Xaxa this whole fight. It was too late to do anything about it now though. I just poised myself to strike. Ready to get this battle over with.

As I was about to strike, another blade came into contact with mine parrying the strike and prevented me from hitting PoH. Xaxa made a tsking noise. "You should know better than to end the party before dancing with me." He said, getting his face dangerously close to mine.

"Eat shit!" I shouted. It wasn't witty or clever. It was just the only thing that I could thing to say to him.

I pushed his sword out of the way and swung at his leg. He parried it effortlessly. He also used that to created an opening and swiped at my side. His sword was inside my guard. There was nothing I could do. His sword left a gash on my side.

Xaxa smiled as if he is deriving some sick pleasure from inflicting pain and injury on me. Then again, know the little that I do about him, he probably does.

Just as he was about to swipe at me again, a fist collided with his face, and Xaxa was sprawled out on the ground. Kazuto had come and punched Xaxa in the face.

I rushed over to PoH, who now seemed to be a little worried. He raised his sword and I struck it to the side. This time, I was the one to punch someone. I punched PoH in the face so hard that it actually damaged his health bar. Following that, I quickly grabbed his weapon, ripped it from his grasp and threw it to the side. I grabbed him, turned him around and held my sword to his throat.

I looked out over the crowd. All of the murderers who had been attacking us were pretty occupied by Asuna. Most of their health bars were almost empty. Asuna, though, saw that we had reached our goal and rushed to meet us.

All the murderers in the crowd were shocked to see their captured leader and seemed unsure of what to do.

"Don't attack!" PoH shouted in an attempt to save his own skin.

But hey, I won't judge. It just lets us get away with _our_ skin. They still seemed unsure though. Like they were debating the orders in their head. We had spent this whole time kicking their butts and they still don't know whether they want to attack us.

I started backing up, dragging PoH with me through the whole town. Kazuto and Asuna were both following my action with their swords drawn to deter any of the morons who wanted to attack.

The only problem is, we're getting further and further away from the warp gate. My idea was to escape into the forest along the side of the town. At least that way we'd have some cover.

We got all the way to the town line without a problem. Which is saying something, considering that most of the time, if something can go wrong, it will. But once we reached the town line the worst of this ordeal decided to show up.

Xaxa came rushing forward, looking indignant. He went straight for me. The only problem was that I was holding a captive right in front of me. "No Xaxa! Wait! Don't!"

"Oh shut up!" He screamed angrily. He attacked despite me holding PoH in the line of fire. He cute PoH down and did not stop attack until PoH's health was gone. PoH burst into polygons, letting off a string of curses, swears, and creative names before he died.

Now we stood there, on the town line. With no hostage, low health, and a small army right in front of us.

Xaxa backed off of us and faced the crowd. "Ladies and gentleman… the guild leader has died… as vice commander, I take up the position of guild master! My first order, bring me Shino alive. Kill the other two." He turned back to us with a sadistic grin.

My first thought was: _There is no way that they'll listen to him. He just murdered their guild master right in front of them._ But after seen them rush us, my mind was instantly changed to: _Apparently, they don't care._ And _We better start running now._

Apparently, Kazuto and Asuna were both thinking the exact same thing that I was, because the moment I turned toward the forest, the two of them did as well. The three of us sprinted into the trees, hoping to avoid another battle, and hoping that they would not follow us very far into the forest. Those hopes and wishes were crushed.

We ran past trees nonstop with the murder guild on our tail. After a while, we could hear them, but we could no longer see them.

"I think our best bet is hiding." I stated to the two of them.

"Agreed." Kazuto said.

So that's what we did. We climbed a tree and hid in the branches and leaves. It provided a perfect amount of coverage. As long as none of them had a high searching skill we'd be fine.

We sat in the trees, waiting for them to pass by. Unfortunately, only a few would pass by at intervals. They must have split up and started searching the forest. Which was bad for us. This meant that they would be scattered out around the forest and there would be no way to know where they are. If they would have just kept on running, we wouldn't have had this problem.

"You know," Kazuto whispered. "I think we need to start considering killing Xaxa."

"The thought had crossed my mind." I said shamefacedly

Asuna chimed in. "As much as I hate the idea of killing someone, I think that killing him is the best option."

"Okay, but who's gonna do it? Who's gonna take his life? None of us wants to do it. We aren't sadistic like he is." I countered. I hesitated before continuing. "Back in the real world…"

"Woah! I may be new to games, but gamers are not supposed to talk about the real world right? Isn't that like gamer 101 or something?" Asuna asked.

"Well, usually it's a safety issue, but in SAO, it's just common courtesy not to talk about the real world. However, if Sinon wants to tell you this story, then she has good reason. Hear her out." Kazuto replied.

I have a feeling that he knows exactly what I'm about to tell her. "Back in the real world, I… I… killed someone once. He was robbing a post office. He pointed his gun at my mom and the cashier, so I bit him. He dropped the gun, and I used it to shot him. Three times. To this day, taking his like haunts me. It tears me apart from the inside." I recalled. "You see? It doesn't matter if they are a threat or not. If it was justified or not. Anyway, you look at it, it will eat away at you very soul. It will give you nightmares and will make you feel empty. It is one of the worst possible things that you will ever do."

Asuna looked like she was in shock. Kazuto, who was sitting quietly the whole time looked depressed. As if knowing the pain that I feel from that event put a weight on his shoulders. He carefully shifted on his branch so that he could be closer to me, and grabbed my hand, squeezing it comfortingly.

"I… I take it Kirito knew about that?" Asuna inquired.

"Yeah…" I trailed off. I may have somewhat come to terms with that incident, but I was far from completely over it. I may never get to be completely over it.

Asuna looked almost scared of me. As if all of the sudden I was some frightening murder to her. In all reality, I probably was.

"Then what are we going to do about Xaxa?"

"Do what about me?"

We snapped to attention. Looking for the source of the noise. Right below us stood Xaxa. _We just can't catch a break from this maniac, can we?_ I thought. _That's it! I'm done with this guy._ I jumped from the tree and drew my sword. Kazuto, in a panic, followed suit. As did Asuna. Xaxa jumped back, putting some distance between the two of us. He continued putting distance between us until there were about thirty meters.

"What are you gonna do, kill me? After that moving speech that you gave?" Xaxa taunted, drawing his weapon. _The thing about that is that you wouldn't draw if you thought we wouldn't kill you. You know that we're capable of doing it. And that we_ will _do it. You're scared Xaxa._

I raised my sword ready to charge him. Before I could though, Asuna ran past me and stabbed at Xaxa with her rapier. Landing a glancing hit on Xaxa's side and doing a bit of damage. Her speed stat is so high that she covered the thirty meters in five seconds eight seconds flat.

Xaxa must not have been expecting that from Asuna. He was paralyzed with shock. She pulled her rapier back and struck again. Doing even more damage. _She is actually going to kill him!._

Before she could rear back and strike a third-time Xaxa grabbed her by the throat and grabbed her sword. He repeated the action that we had taken with the late PoH. He took Asuna hostage.

"I severely doubt that you two have the speed that she does. Even if you do, you won't be able to get here before I kill her." He said. Equipped and item from my immediate item storage. Kinda like the Hotbar in most MMORPGS. "So here's how this is going to work. You two are going to come quietly, or she's gonna die."

I raised the item in my hand. A high damage dagger that had dropped from a monster that I was farming on the baiting for Xaxa. _Fitting for me to use this I guess._ I closed my eyes and focused. I took deep breaths in an attempt to slow my heart rate.

"Did you not hear me. I'm gonna kill her. Wouldn't it be a shame to waste her? She could have other used for me." He continued.

I had never done this before. I was completely relying on my knowledge of unrelated things. Slowing your heart rate to steady aim. Who knows if this will work? I took one step forward and swung my arm.

Everything seemed to move in slow motion. In my mind, I didn't see a knife flying through the air, but instead, I saw a bullet flying toward the bullseye. When the knife landed, It landed exactly where I wanted it to. It impaled itself deeply between Xaxa's eyes. There was a shout of agony, and Xaxa's health bar dropped to zero almost instantly. He burst into polygons, and it was over. Xaxa would never murder or torment again.

I looked at Kazuto. His jaw was hanging open. I looked back at Asuna. Her jaw too was ajar. I repeated this cycle a few more times before it started to bother me. I couldn't figure out why they were staring with their jaws on the floor.

"Sinon," He started. "You just threw a knife thirty meters and hit a tiny target."

"And?" I asked confused.

"And, that dagger wasn't an item that was made to be thrown. On top of that, you haven't trained the "Thrown Weapon" skill. You hit that tiny target from a huge distance with no assistance from the system. Which means you did it with your own skill." He explained.

We stood there a few more minutes, with Kazuto's amazed stare flattering me, and Asuna's perplexed, shocked and impressed expression making me a little uncomfortable. It didn't take long for us to clear out of there though. After all, there are still a lot of murderers walking around the forest.

 **A/N: Okay, so this chapter is more a draft than anything. I was up at three in the morning when I finished it. So I wasn't on the top of my game. I just wanted to post it. Looming back on it, I think that I might change a bit. So expect a final draft soon. Although, be sure to drop a review telling me what you thought. I really love hearing from everyone. That will be all.**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Shino's POV

It didn't really hit me until we were a long way away from the forest, walking through the wilderness of the eleventh floor. I hadn't even been able to process what I had done. I did it in a rush of adrenaline and panic. If I had actually thought about it for a second, I'm sure I could have found another way of doing it. But I didn't. I had taken another life, and now, now it has begun taking its toll on my mind.

Kazuto, Asuna and I were walking in a tight group. Our goal was to make it to the nearest town and teleport to the furthest one to avoid the psychotic guild that had nearly killed us.

However, as we were walking, my pace slowed. My body became heavy to the point that I could no longer move. My breathing picked up its pace and became uneven and ragged as I started to hyperventilate. I started to lose the feeling in my hands and feet. Even my face felt the effect. The feeling then started to spread up my limbs. I recognized the signs all too well. I was having a panic attack (a fast acting one at that). Images of Xaxa's face and the dagger landing between his eyes flashed through my head. Then I fell to my knees.

Kazuto must have been paying attention to the slowing of my pace, because the moment that I started to breathe differently, he was by my side.

"Sinon," He said soothingly. "It's okay. You're okay. Just take deep breaths."

It didn't do much for me. For some reason, his words didn't hold the same comfort that they normally do. In addition, I already know what to do when having a panic attack. That's not the problem. The problem is actually doing it. You need to have something that calms you down enough to actually take control of your body again. It is extremely hard to just do what you're supposed to.

"Sinon, you have to get your breathing under control." He said, starting to sound panicked himself.

I tried. I really did. But try as I may, I couldn't get my breathing to go back to normal. The images of Xaxa's death kept swirling around in my head. They wouldn't go away and were stopping me from taking control again. At this point, tears were flowing from my eyes, and the feeling of numbness in my limbs and face had spread, leaving almost my whole body numb. Knowing that I had killed another person was, as I had put it earlier, tearing me apart.

"Shino!" He urged, using my real name in place of my avatar's handle.

Amazingly enough, that actually seemed to help me. It calmed me just enough to take control of my breathing again. The tears rolling down my cheeks stopped flowing, leaving only a few droplets and the streaks on my cheeks behind. The feeling of numbness subsided only a little. And as I've found out from past experiences, that will probably linger around for about an hour.

As my breathing slowly returned to normal, I looked up at Asuna, who seemed unsure of what to do in this situation. She seemed uncomfortable witnessing me having a panic attack. She was biting her lip nervously and was glancing away from me. Only occasionally sneaking a glance at me.

Kazuto sat on his knees next to me, rubbing circle on my back in a comforting fashion. "You gonna be alright?" He asked.

"Yeah, sooner or later…" I said breathily, still trying to recover from the hyperventilation.

"You want to rest here for a little while?" He questioned.

I nodded. When your whole body is numb and/or feeling pins and needles, it makes it incredibly hard to move. Especially a long distance.

"At least one thing came out of this…" I managed. "We know that you can have a panic attack in this game. Once again, kaya-bitch made this game too realistic!" I continued bitterly and through gritted teeth.

Kazuto snorted in an attempt to suppress his single laugh. "Kaya-bitch?" He questioned. "You're still cracking jokes?"

"Yep." I stated simply. **(A/N: Yes, this actually happens. If you want a reason, be sure to read the explanation at the end of the chapter.)  
**

The pins and needles in my hands, feet and face started to disappear. It had only been a few minutes and the thing that lasts the longest was already fading. _Well, that's good at least. The feeling only lasts a fraction of the time that it does in reality.  
_

"I think we can start moving again." I said.

Kazuto looked at me with a quizzical gaze. "Are you sure. You haven't had a whole lot of time to recover. If you want to rest a bit longer, it's not a problem." he responded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. The symptoms wear off really fast here."

"Alright…" Kazuto said hesitantly. "If you're sure."

I started to get up. "Here, let me help." he said, draping my left arm over his shoulders and wrapping his right arm around me to give me a little extra support.

I probably didn't actually need the help, but I didn't fight it. I appreciated the thought and the offer. On top of that, I wasn't about to turn down being close to Kazuto. The only person who could calm me down.

We started walking again, making our way to our destination. (wherever the hell that was) We weren't even five minutes into the walk when Asuna decided to start speaking with us again. She was being… characteristically quiet it seemed. "I'm sorry!" she said. But it wasn't apologetic, no, it was as if she had lost her patience. "I have to ask this. Are your real names Kazuto and Shino? Xaxa seemed adamant in calling you that. On top of that, Kirito, you called Sinon Shino."

She was a few paces behind us, but we didn't turn around to face her. In fact, Kazuto wasn't even going to answer. He kept his eyes forward and his jaw clenched. I kept my eyes forward but responded to her nonetheless. "You know, Asuna, you really shouldn't ask people about their lives in the real world. Kind of an unwritten rule. Common courtesy really." I didn't answer her question. I figured she already knew the answer.

The rest of the trip was completely silent.

* * *

When we reached a village, we went our separate ways without a word. Asuna walk off into town, and we started looking for an inn. The day had been physically (Virtually?) and mentally taxing. We needed to get some rest. Unfortunately, though, there didn't seem to be any inns in this town. We walked around for an hour looking, but the search was not fruitful.

"Why the hell would there not be an inn?" I asked irritatedly.

"I don't know. Maybe this village was meant to be more for aesthetics and appearances than actual player usage." Kazuto responded.

"That's stupid. You give players free roam over this entire world, and you allow them to explore and travel, but you have areas that don't account for players?" I said.

"Yeah, that does seem pretty ridiculous. It was just a theory though. It could be for any number of reasons." he agreed. "There's probably a dungeon or long quest line here that Kayaba didn't want players to farm over and over."

I didn't give much of a response, other than a nod. I was busy trying to find out what we were gonna do to rest. We couldn't do it in the open, that is too dangerous. Too many player killers to worry about. If we slept out in the open we ran the risk of running into the player killer guild again. In our current state, it's likely that we wouldn't put up much of a fight. Especially if we both fell asleep.

Kazuto was still "supporting" me and it was starting to distract me. He was extremely close to me and his hand was soft and warm. I broke away from him, wanting to devote my full attention to our current problem. We needed to find somewhere to stay.

"Do you think that there would be anywhere safe to rest?" I asked. "This town doesn't have a warp gate, so going to another village is probably out of the equation. It would take too long to walk to another village."

"Uhm... " He drawled, looking around us. "I don't see anything, and we've walked around for a while, so if there was anywhere, we probably would have seen it by now."

I looked around for myself. It's not that I didn't trust Kazuto, but it's always better to check again. This time around, I spotted a bar. "There's a bar. Do you think that we could get some rest in there?" I asked.

"It's just a bar. It's not like the pubs that most of the inns have on the first floor. It won't have any rooms."

"It's the best we've got, and at this point, I'd be willing to use a table as my pillow." I responded, remaining still. Even if I seemed fine on the outside, I didn't want to be away from Kazuto.

"Alright, let's go." He said, gently grabbing my hand and walking me toward the pub.

When we got there and opened the door though, we got hit with a wave of noise. It went from quiet to deafening in a matter of seconds.

That not all that hit _me_ though. Upon seeing the copious number of people in the bar, I got really cold again and began to feel extremely nauseous. I was frozen in place. _I didn't consider this._ I thought. _I didn't stop to think how this was going to affect my ability to operate around other people._

It's not like today's event made me afraid of people, but more so made me relapse into my former self. Before Kazuto came around, I avoided people at all costs. I couldn't stand to be around them because every time I was, I would be harassed. You may ask how that affects me now, or why I've relapsed into it. Well, I was harassed because I had killed someone, self-defense or not. Now that it has happened again, my body is expecting the same result.

Kazuto started walking in but I didn't budge. When he felt my arm pull taut, he stopped in his tracks. He turned around to look at me, taking note of my posture and the expression written on my face. (something along the lines of "Oh shit" and "I'm gonna hurl") He seemed to understand right away what the problem was.

He opened his mouth like he was about to say something but was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Kirito? Sinon? Is that you?" Klein asked. "It's been forever! How are you guys? What have you been up to?"

Kazuto whipped back around to face Klein. "Klein, it's good to see you again. We are just looking for a place to rest. We've had a long day."

Klein's face fell from surprised and excited to worried and quizzical. "Yeah, some days are just like that. There's no inn in this village though. Come on in and I'll see if we can figure something out."

Kazuto looked at me questioningly, silently asking if I could handle being in a crowded place like that. I vigorously shook my head no. He turned back to Klein. "Actually, can you come outside real quick?"

Klein's expression was really worried now. "Sure thing…" He said as he started walking toward the door.

Kazuto led me back outside, away from the crowded bar. Klein followed close behind. _This is bound to be an interesting conversation._ Kazuto turned back toward Klein, all the while not letting go of my hand.

"Ok Kirito, what's going on?" Klein asked hurriedly.

"That's a long and complicated story," Kazuto replied. "Most of which I don't have the right to tell."

"That's not gonna cut it pal. You've got me worried now."

I got really mad. I already don't like Klein, and now he's persistently sticking his nose in a place that we've told him not to. _I don't give a damn if he thought that he was doing the right thing. When Kazuto told him that he wouldn't tell him, he should have dropped it._

"Klein, can you help us or not?" Kazuto asked.

"Well… yeah, but…" Klein started, getting interrupted by Kazuto.

"How?"

"I made a guild. We bought a guild building. It's not anything special, but it's plenty big and you can't get in without special permissions." He explained.

"You would let us stay in your guild building?" Kazuto questioned.

"Absolutely! On one condition. I want to know what the hell is going on later."

Apparently, he finally caught on. He realized that we weren't going to tell him right now. In a perfect world, we would never tell him, but he was never going to stop asking.

Kazuto looked at me again for approval. I just nodded for the umpteenth time today. As long I was given some time, I'm sure that I could manage to recall the events... without having a panic an attack.

"You have yourself a deal Klein. We appreciate the help." Kazuto said.

"It's really no problem," Klein said opening the user interface. He started to manipulate a window with a text box. He typed away, spelling our names, and giving us the necessary 'permissions'. "Alright, that should do it. My guild building will appear in your home menu. There should be an automatic teleport link to it too."

Kazuto opened a small window, displaying the name of the guild building. Klein spoke up again. "When you walk into the building, look for a bedroom that's unlocked. That will mean that it's unclaimed."

"Thanks again Klein. You probably just saved our lives. No exaggeration."

"Don't worry about it. Anything to help someone in need. Especially if that person is a personal friend." He said as I opened the same window that Kazuto had opened in his UI.

He looked at me. "You go first. I'll be right behind you." I didn't argue. I selected the 'Teleport to guild building' option and was instantly teleported to Klein's guild building. Seconds later Kazuto appeared behind me.

We walk into the building and started our search for a room. We walk aimlessly for a little while but finally found a vacant room.

Klein had said that it wasn't anything special, but frankly that a load of chicken shit. This room alone was huge, had a queen sized bed, and was generously furnished. "Klein is either blind, or he's full of crap." I said.

Kazuto chuckled. "I think he was just trying to be modest." He responded. "Either way, this is a hell of a lot better than most of the places that we've stayed."

"Yeah." I agreed, walking over to the bed and moving the sheets aside. "Now let's sleep." The day was nearly over, and we've had a long day. I probably won't wake up for days.

"You sure you want me to sleep in the bed with you?" He asked. He was trying to be considerate, but if he wasn't with me tonight, I'd probably have nightmares and another panic attack.

"Kazuto, just get in the bed." I said exasperatedly. He looked hesitant but walked toward the bed nonetheless.

I crawled under the sheets and mere seconds later Kazuto did as well. He laid down on the far side of the bed leaving a huge gap between the two of us. He was laying on his back with his eyes pointed upward.

"Kazuto, what are you doing?" I questioned flatly. I didn't even have the energy to put any emotion of any kind into it.

"I just thought that it might make you uncomfortable if I was too close." He replied.

"Right now, I'm uncomfortable being away from you."

He turned his head to face me. I shifted closer to him, which was all the confirmation he needed. He moved closer to me. He was so close to me now that I could lay my head on his chest, and I did just that.

We laid there in a comfortable silence, nearly falling asleep until… "Shino, I just realized…" Kazuto started. "We could have used our teleport crystals the moment Asuna walked away."

A few seconds went by, then I screamed. "SON OF A…!"

 **A/N: Ok, explanation time. Short and sweet. After traumatic experiences, people make jokes to dull the guilt, as well as to make light of a bad situation. In other words, they're trying to make a terrible situation or event seem less horrific. It's a coping mechanism. It's found in a lot of veterans. If you question whether this is true or not, I got this information from a marine veteran. (I've been asked not to share his stories) You can also search "Link to PTSD and humour"**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Shino's POV

I woke up to a loud digital beeping in my head. _Stupid system alarm clock._ I thought. _And stupid me for forgetting to turn in off._ The sun was shining through the window, and I was lying so close to Kazuto that It made me feel warm and fuzzy. By all accounts, this would have been a very beautiful moment. Unfortunately, though, I couldn't sponge away my actions and the guilt that came with it.

I raised my hand and I opened the 'Alarms' window. I turned all my alarms off, closed the window, and let my hand fall back onto the bed. It landed on top of Kazuto. I cringed, clenching my eyes shut, anticipating that he would wake up. He stayed sound asleep.

I slowly opened my eyes to look at him. He was still covered by the sheets and was sleeping soundly. He looked so cute. I slipped my arm under the sheets and wrapped it around Kazuto, pulling myself closer to him. He and I were so close now that I was almost on top of him. The closer I got to him the better it made me feel.

I started to drift back to sleep, but it was cut short when I felt Kazuto start to move around. _Just perfect._ I thought. _He just had to wake up._

His eyes opened slowly, then closed again, squinting against the morning light. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he turned his head to look at me. "Well good morning." He managed thought his morning grogginess.

"Good morning to you too." I replied, giving a small smile. "You look cute when you sleep." I don't know why I said it, it just kind of slipped out.

He smiled in return. "That may be true, but you look beautiful when you sleep. And when you're awake."

That's a side of him that I didn't see very often. There are times that he would sound like he was straight out of some corny romance novel. Sometimes it was humorous to hear him say things like that. Then others, it was flattering and made me blush redder than a ripe tomato. This was one of those ladder moments.

My face started to feel hot, so I responded the only way I could think of. "That was so cheesy." I said with a small laugh.

"Yeah, but it's completely true." He responded, a large smile spreading across his face.

"Mmm… well, thank you very much Kazuto."

Scratch that thing about what _he_ said being corny. This entire conversation sounded like it came from an archetypical teenage couple. Which I guess we are in one way or another. Although, nothing about our current situation is typical. Far from. Teenagers don't _usually_ get stuck in a game, fighting for their lives.

It wasn't long until Kazuto spoke again, but in the small time that it was taking him to speak, he looked like we were deeply contemplating something. When he finally opened his mouth to speak, the subject was completely unrelated to the extremely corny exchange that we had just gone through. "Shino? Do you feel up for doing anything today?" he asked hesitantly.

I didn't speak right away. I didn't know how I wanted to answer. In fact, I didn't even know whether I wanted to do anything today, or if I wanted to mope around and just sleep the day away. The memories of my actions and the consequences that followed were still fresh in my mind. I would do anything to make them disappear, if even for a little while. Both options were plausible to meet that end; If I slept all day, then my mind wouldn't be able to wander. But Kazuto would have to stay with me to prevent my nightmares (which apparently actually works). But in order for that to happen, Kazuto would not be able to do anything all day either. I definitely wasn't going to even _request_ that he do that. That leaves the second option; I could keep myself busy and focused all day, that way, I won't be able to think of anything else.

Making my decision I said, "I think I'm up for a little grinding and farming."

Kazuto kept his eyes fixed on the ceiling. "Okay, then let's get going before Klein shows up."

I was a little confused at first. I didn't know why he would try to avoid Klein. Then I realised, _he_ wasn't trying to avoid Klein. He was trying to get us both out of there before Klein asked about what happened. The answer to which was one of the conditions for us staying here.

Kazuto got out of the bed, stretching his back and groaning. After his morning stretch opened his inventory, taking out a teleport crystal and turning his attention to me, giving me the signal to do the same.

"Didn't Klein ask to know what happened as a condition to us staying in his guild building?" I questioned.

"Yeah, but I figured that he'd be better off not hearing that. Besides, it's Klein. I doubt that he'll hold a grudge very long, if at all. Worst case scenario is that he gets a little peeved." Kazuto responded, shrugging his shoulder in a way that blatantly exhibited his lack of concern in the matter.

"I won't argue with that." I said, swinging my legs over the side of the bed, getting up and stretching my own back. _You would figure that you wouldn't have to stretch in a video game…_ I thought.

When I had finished my stretch, I took out a teleport crystal. _These would have been really usefully yesterday when we were looking for a place to stay!_ I thought dryly, recalling last night when Kazuto had voiced that same realization.

"So," I started "Where are we going?"

"Depends. Are you sure you want to fight monsters today? Or do you wanna do something a little less fight-ish?"

He may think that he did it slyly, but I knew what he was doing. He was trying to talk me out of fighting today. "I'd rather fight monsters. In fact, why don't we do a dungeon? We could get some COL and some new gear. Who knows, you may even be able to find a better sword. That Anneal Blade is getting outdated."

This caught his attention. He liked that sword, being the first sword that he ever got. Other than the training blade that is. "I like my Anneal Blade!" He whined.

I lightly chuckled at him "Okay, so how about it? The dungeon I mean."

He immediately regained his posture. Going from whining to serious in less than a second. "Yeah, we can do that. How about the Arcane Catacombs on the ninth floor? The monsters there are pretty strong and have good drops, but won't pose any real threat to us if we're together."

"Sounds like a plan." I affirmed. "I'm ready when you are."

"Then let's go!" He called enthusiastically. He raised his teleport crystal and called out, "Teleport, Arcane Catacombs!"

I immediately followed his lead, raising my crystal as well. As I activated the teleport crystal, in that exact moment, Klein barged in.

"Good morning you two! How'd you…" he stopped abruptly in the middle of his good morning call, taking note of the fact that I was about to escape from his sight and consequently, his questions.

He opened his mouth and began speaking again. "What the …"

This time it wasn't his stopping that prevented me from hearing the full statement, it was my disappearing from the room and no longer being within earshot. I have a few ideas of what he was going to say though. None of which, could have been in any way pleasant.

* * *

When I materialized, I was standing outside what looked like a small mausoleum. It was worn down and dilapidated, the stone having intricate webs of cracks and immaculate signs of erosion. Cobwebs were strewn everywhere, their only purpose being to intimidate players and to make the building appear ancient and abandoned.

Kazuto too was looking at this horrendous eyesore of a building with an absent and slightly disappointed look on his face. His lips were curved ever so slightly downward and his eyebrows were angled slightly inward. His entire expression could be taken as stoic if you don't know him, but after some time with him, you start to notice small details that give away what he was feeling or thinking. In this case, a disappointment in the dungeon that lay before us.

Neither of us had actually bothered going through this dungeon before. The ninth floor was cleared fairly quickly, so there was no reason to stick around and enter a dungeon that would give us sub-par knew only what we had been told by the players who had cleared the dungeon.

Even still, the players who told us what we know, we're levels below us. The difficulty sounded vastly underwhelming. There wasn't even supposed to be a boss, just a dialogue quest.

I turned back to the dungeon, contemplating if this was actually how I wanted to spend my day. It was indefinitely going to be unproductive, but it would keep me busy.

Kazuto started to walk forward, toward the entrance to the disappointing dungeon. I followed him without question. This time around, if he wasn't going to say anything, I wouldn't either. Today, I was just following.

* * *

We had been in the dungeon for hours, just killing every single monster that we could find. That didn't even count the time that we spent actually doing the dialogue quest. That tacked on another hour or two hours.

We had been correct in assuming that the dungeon would not be a challenge whatsoever. All the monsters were, indeed, low leveled and had skills that reflected that. _Dang,_ I thought. _That was just too easy. We must be grossly overpowered._

Even the drops that we got from the dungeon were underwhelming. The only things that we didn't trash on the spot, where the rare drops of crystals, and the commonplace drop of crafting material. All in all, though, the dungeon was a successful way to take up some time and to occupy my otherwise thought-filled mind. It took up any extra time that my mind had to wander and it even seemed a little… _consuming_ …

"So Shino, what was your opinion of that?" Kazuto asked. "I thought it was pretty fun. It felt good taking it easy for once."

I really didn't want to tell him that I was _Completely_ underwhelmed by the dungeon, so I settled on telling him a half-truth, of sorts. "You're right, it felt great just taking it easy for once!" I said, feigning excitement, enthusiasm, and a smile.

Kazuto seemed satisfied with the response, seemingly unaware that I wasn't being entirely truthful. In my defense, I wasn't necessarily lying either. I was just telling him what he wanted to hear, whether I meant every word of it or not. His smile persisted, and he went about asking me about the next order of business. "So," He started. "We haven't had anything to eat all day, and we just did an entire dungeon. I, for one, say that we go get something to eat!" The sheer amount of enthusiasm in his showed just how much he was looking forward to that part of the day. In fact, I'd be willing to bet all the crystal that I have in my inventory that he has been thinking about food ever since we started the dungeon. Maybe even since we woke up this morning.

I could not, however, bring myself to agree to that. I didn't want for a second, to be inactive or have a moment of freedom in thought. It was all I could do, standing here, to occupy myself with thoughts of fighting more monsters or having this conversation with Kazuto. I was not at all ready to go sit down and eat, nor was I hungry, or in the mood to eat.

"Eh... " I drawled out. "I'm not really hungry. You can go ahead though."

His face immediately fell back into a state of worry. "No way! I'm not just gonna leave you all alone out here! Besides, you haven't eaten anything all day either."

"Kazuto, I'm fine. I can handle it. We're on the ninth floor. We don't even have a problem with monsters on the eleventh _and_ we just swept through what is probably the hardest dungeon on this floor with ease. And besides, I think I could use some alone time." At the very end of my statement, my voice had faded to be almost silent.

He did not seem completely satisfied that my defense. But, he stopped pushing the matter. "Are you sure?" he questioned. (I am fairly certain what got him to give in was my comment about needing to be alone). I nodded in response to his question.

"Okay… Please be careful; Don't do anything too crazy. And please make sure that you eat something. Oh, and if you need me for anything, don't hesitate to send me a message, or to use the voice chat. I will be there in a matter of seconds." He shot off in a series of rapid-fire requests.

It took a bit longer for him to actually leave, but when he did, I was more than ready to occupy my mind with anything and everything. I had heard every word that came from his mouth, but the moment he was gone all thought of heeding his words were gone. I opened my menu, scrolled through the setting, turned off the chat feature, the "Friend Finder" feature, and finally, opened my friends list selecting Kazuto's name. I started at it for several minutes, my hand resting between two buttons.

 **A/N: I am so incredibly sorry for the excessively long wait. It has been exponentially longer than any other update I have made... ever. I don't mean to complain, but school has been brutal. I am lucky if I have time to eat and sleep, let alone time to type. I can't make any definite promises, but I will try to post more frequently. I thank you for your understanding and your patience as well as your support.**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Suguha's POV

It had been a couple of days since I met Kikuoka but now that I know him, I seem to see him everywhere. I will be walking down the hall of the hospital, and I'll see him making his rounds. I have never _seen_ him do it before, or at least, not that I took note of. So it's a little weird that I am so aware of it now. My seeing him is not strictly confined to the hospital though, which is the weirdest part of the matter. I occasionally see him in public, and I get the feeling that he sees more of me than I do of him. I can't explain it, but I feel like he has his eyes on me.

It's been a day more since I met that creep in Shino's hospital room and believe it or not, he's more unnerving than Kikuoka. Sure, I feel like Kikuoka is watching me, but that Shinkawa boy was an enigma. I still remember his face with immaculate clarity. But one thing stood out in my mind above all things: His eyes. When he whipped around, they held all the intensity of a wild animal. Not only that, but I still couldn't place what was hidden behind his eyes. _If I were ever to meet him again it will be all too soon._

Right now though, I am neither at the hospital or at home. I am at a Kendo tournament. I had just won a round, which qualified me for the semi-finals. I love Kendo and I should be so focused on the tournament that there are no other thoughts in my head. Unfortunately, that is not the case. My head was instead, filled with thoughts of the two strange people that I had met: Kikuoka and Shinkawa.

My name was called, and my match was announced, to which I barely took any notice; I was incredibly distracted. I did, however, have the awareness to know that I had to get in the ring. I quickly threw on my headgear, securing it in place, and grabbed my Kendo sword. The very one that Kazuto had brought back from the shop those months ago, toting Shino with him. I smiled as I recollected the memory.

I will spare the details of the match, and instead just say that I lost… Miserably. I'm sure I could have won, too, had my head been in the match. Instead, it was centered elsewhere and because of that, it more likely than not cost me the match and maybe even the tournament. Instead of myself, the winner turned out to be some girl named Saeko Busujima. From the looks of her, she couldn't be much older than me, but she beat a muscle-bound boy who had no shortage of skill on his side.

After the loss, I went on to the third-place match and that, I won. So the tournament wasn't a complete disappointment. I was, after all, bringing home a trophy. When that match was over I packed my bag, putting away all my gear and getting ready to leave with a quick call to my mom.

After a few rings, my mom picked up. "Hello?" she answered.

"Mom, it's Suguha. I'm done at my tournament. Can you come get me?" I questioned.

"Sure honey. I'll be there in a little bit. So how'd you do? Did you place?"

"Yeah, I got third. I probably could have done better, but my head wasn't in it in the semi-finals. I just wasn't completely focused." I probably sounded more down that I intended to. It's not like third place is some huge disgrace, but I really was upset that I could have done better and didn't. If it was unquestionable that I gave it my absolute best, I wouldn't beat myself up over it. But when I _know_ that I could have done better, I just get so aggravated with myself.

"That's amazing Sugu!" she cried out from the other end of the line. "That Tournament was huge! Getting third out of over fifty is amazing!"

She sounded so impressed and excited that I couldn't even force myself to be upset over the loss if I was trying, desperately trying. Regardless of the situation, my mom always had a way of making everyone see the silver lining.

"Thanks, mom." I responded, a small smile gracing my lips. "So when do you think that you'll get here?"

"Oh, fifteen to twenty minutes. Give or take. Kinda depends on traffic." She said. I heard a rustling in the background and the small, metallic jingle of keys. "I'm leaving right now, so I'll see you in a little bit, okay?"

"Yeah. I'll be waiting in front of the building for you."

"Alright honey, see you soon." she said, hanging up the phone.

With that, I slipped my phone back into my pocket, gathered up my bag, and started on my way to the door. Before I could make it to the door, however, I was stopped by the boy I had beaten in the third-place match. Having been to plenty of tournaments, I knew this meant one of two things: He was going to congratulate me on a good match; or he was going to have some snide remark, made in spite of his loss to a girl. I have been on the receiving end of these two too many times to count. And in the latter case, more times than I care to count. Normally, I ignore the latter case; it is, after all, just an attempt to patch their hurt ego.

Much to my surprise, neither of these scenarios played out. "Hey, Suguha Kirigaya, right?" He asked. His voice was almost void of any determining emotion that would help me to predict what course the conversation would take. He bowed slightly. "I'm Hiro Sonozaki. You did really well today."

Now, I know I said that the conversation did not take either course. By that, I didn't that the conversation was completely unlike those that I have had before. The next part of the conversation was where it became unusual to me.

"Thank you. You did really well too." I responded cheerily, bowing in return. Then I turned back in the direction of the doors.

"Hey, uh… um… I was wondering…" I turned back to face him once again. His face was slightly flushed and he was fidgeting. His behavior in that moment did not at all match what one would imagine of him. His posture was like that of a, well, nerd talking to his crush. Whereas his build would make you think he was a jock who had no problem talking to girls. "Would it be at all possible… for me to have your number?"

I was more than slightly taken aback by the request. I stared at him, wide-eyed.

"I know that I literally formally met you just thirty seconds ago and that I have no reason to assume that I would ever even see you again. But I would like to talk to you sometime." He explained. "I'm terribly sorry if that comes off as strange, or weird… or creepy…"

In complete honesty, I think that under different circumstances, I would have given him my number. But being that I don't know him at all, excluding the formality of his name, the prospect of giving him my number was a little unnerving to me. I don't want to seem rude by telling him no and I can't just tell him yes either. I had to resolve myself to one of these options.

"I'm really sorry. You seem like a nice guy, but I don't really know anything about you. It would just make me feel uncomfortable giving you my number." I had chosen to tell him no in the gentlest way possible.

He didn't seem disheartened, but he by no means seemed happy. "I completely understand. If I were in your shoes, I would probably say no too. Again, I am terribly sorry for making you feel uncomfortable." He said all of this with an apologetic motion and bow. After that, he simply turned around and walked away.

I finally turned back to the doors to make my way out. This time I was not stopped by anyone. I made it to the door and exited the building.

* * *

The tournament started early in the morning and ran until the evening. Because of this, I had not yet made my visit to Kazuto or Shino; Something that I did every day and absolutely refused to skip. I would sooner commute to the hospital through a typhoon than miss a single day of visiting those two.

When I got home I rushed to the bathroom and took a shower, getting ready to go to the hospital. I rushed through the shower, only taking long enough to make sure that I was adequately cleaned from a long day of Kendo. After that, I threw on some clothes, barely taking note of what I was actually putting on. I ran down the stairs, right past my mom and to the front door.

"You're leaving again already?" My mom asked.

"Yeah. I want to get to the hospital and see Kazuto and Shino before visiting hours are over." I explained.

"You aren't even gonna stay for dinner? Visiting hours won't be over for a few hours. You have plenty of time to eat something. What have you eaten all day, if anything?"

At the mention of dinner, I realized just how hungry I actually was. I thought for a moment, then came to a decision. "No. I'm just gonna go to the hospital. I'll stop and get something to eat on the way there or on the way back."

Under normal circumstances, my response probably wouldn't have been the "right", or acceptable answer. However, my mom has become incredibly lenient about anything involving Kazuto. If I told her I wanted to visit him, regardless of the circumstances, she would let me go. This situation was no exception. She definitely didn't seem happy about me choosing to skip dinner. But she didn't stop me. She turned and headed toward the kitchen.

"Be sure to tell him that mom said hi!" She called over her shoulder as I was opening the door.

"I will!" And with that, I was off to the hospital.

* * *

I wasn't even halfway to the hospital before I begun to have that strange feeling again. The feeling that someone had their eyes on me. Someone that I couldn't see. I figured that this would happen. I just didn't care enough for it to stop me from seeing Kazuto and Shino. _No, that's not quite right._ I thought to myself. _It's more so that I care too much for it to stop me. I care for Kazuto and Shino to the extent that I don't fear what is happening in the world around me._

I continued onward toward the hospital, the ever-present feeling of being watch nagging at the back of my head. Occasionally, I would see someone out of the corner of my eye. One second I'd see someone, then in the next second, they would be gone. It almost seemed supernatural, like those weird anime where the spirits show up and disappear, almost in the same instant. Whether this was my imagination or not, I could not tell. I wanted desperately for it to just be my imagination, but I seriously doubted that I'd be that lucky.

* * *

I sat there in Kazuto room, just staring at him. Normally I have so much to "tell" him, but today, I just wanted to see him. I already told him about the tournament, so now there just wasn't anything left to say. Besides, it feels good just to visit him and to see that he's still fighting, still holding on.

I headed to Shino's room after some time with Kazuto. It was a very unwelcome surprise to see the Shinkawa boy there again. I don't exactly know how to go about this situation. There is absolutely no chance of me leaving before I see Shino. However, on one hand, I could avoid Shinkawa, and wait until he leaves. On the other hand, I could brave the encounter and sit there awkwardly with him in the room. It would be different if it were someone that didn't seem like they could be patient from the psychiatric ward, but unfortunately, he fits that bill.

I decided that I would have to deal with it. I had spent a long time just sitting there in Kazuto's room. So now, there were just over two hours left in visiting hours. And who knows how long Shinkawa plans on staying.

"P-pardon me." I say as I walk into the room.

He was facing away from me, so I couldn't see his face. He didn't respond.

I walked the rest of the way into the room and sat in a chair next to Shino. Then I looked at Shinkawa. _He's asleep._ I thought. "Thank god..."

I proceeded to tell Shino all of the same things I told Kazuto, but again, fell short on much to tell. The tournament was just about the only thing that was worth telling about. After that, I just sat there. Looking at Shino, like I looked at Kazuto. I must have sat there for an hour, getting lost in my thoughts.

I'm not sure exactly when, but at some point, I became aware of this low, eerie, and dark mumbling. At first, I didn't know were it was coming from. I couldn't make out the words at first, so I just wrote it off as some noise coming from a machine. But after a while, I started to pick up on certain words, "brother" and "dead" being the clearest. I look away from Shino and at Shinkawa. He was awake now, and it was plainly obvious that he was the source of the frightening voice.

His face was contracted in a strange mix of grief, pain, and something else, something scary. He was fidgeting uncontrollably, and looked, as I described prior, like a patient from the psych-ward.

I debated internally on saying something to him, maybe to snap him out of it, or just leaving and reporting him to the hospital's security. In the end, I may or may not have chosen to do the right thing. But I'll be damned if I'm gonna leave Shino in that room alone with Shinkawa.

"Hey," I started slowly. "Are you alright?"

The psychotic mumbling stopped abruptly. His head whipped around to look at me. His face fixed in a smile that is analogous to the Joker's from Batman. The only notable difference between the two is that Shinkawa's smile was much, much, scarier.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Suguha's POV

I sat there, staring intently at the pristine image of insanity. It took every single fiber of my will to avoid averting my gaze. If I did that, it would be a sign of weakness; he was acting like a wild animal, and animals prey on the weak. His smile was so terrifying in-and-of-itself that I thought of calling the police instead of hospital security. And for every moment I sat there staring at insanity, insanity stared right back in the most literal way possible.

After some time, he started to rise from his seat slowly, returning to mumbling unintelligibly. My entire body tensed. I thought that I was going to have to fight for my life. Only I didn't. He simply continued mumbling to himself while skulking to the door and leaving, disappearing down the hallway. I let out a breath that I did not know I had been holding.

"What… the hell… just happened?" I asked myself aloud. I turned to Shino. "I have a strange feeling that he wasn't really a friend of yours from school…" I said sarcastically. I had, after all, had that feeling from the moment I met him.

I sat there with her for the remainder of visiting hours. I wanted to be sure that there was no chance of Shinkawa showing up again, or at least to make sure that he didn't do anything to Shino. Finally, when the nurse came in to tell me that visiting hours were over, I let out a sigh of relief. Her response, of course, was to look at me sideways.

I walked out of the hospital to start my commute home, only to be greeted by the same feeling as before. _I swear to god! Someone is following me!_ I thought. I looked around to see if I could spot anyone that seemed to be tailing or watching me. Despite the intense feeling that I was having, I couldn't spot anything out of the ordinary. I started to walk again, cautiously looking over my shoulder every now and again.

* * *

I laid there in my bed, staring at the ceiling. The feeling of being watched had not gone away on my entire way home. Only when I got home and was in the safety of my room did the feeling go away. So of course, my mind drifted to that and ran with it. I thought of scenarios; of things that it could have been and things that it was more likely to have been. No matter how hard I tried I could not convince myself that it was just my imagination. The more I tried the more it seemed far-fetched and unrealistic. A few of the ideas that I came up with seemed plausible, but unlikely. _Is Kikuoka watching me? No that wouldn't make any sense. Unless he's some creepy pervert stalker… Maybe it's Shinkawa. He is definitely crazy enough to be a stalker. But why would he be stalking_ me? _Wait… could it be because I visit Shino every day? Oh god! It has to be him, doesn't it? But wait— wasn't he in the hospital already when I had the feeling earlier?_ Were the biggest and most repetitive thoughts.

"Gahhh!" I groaned, rolling over on to my side.

My mom opened the door shortly after. "You alright Sugu?" She questioned, staring at me with a worried and a seemingly knowing glance. "You have anything you wanna talk about?" She asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just thinking." I responded, trying to dismiss her inquiry.

"About what?" she asked.

"A few things…" I trailed off. "It's really nothing to worry about."

"Are you sure?"

I was quickly growing tired of the questioning that she was directing at me. I needed some way to satisfy her curiosity and simultaneously quill her worry. My mind, of course, went through the most recent events that could possibly cause me distress and would make my mom stop questioning me. "A boy just asked for my number is all…" I said, allowing my mouth to move before entirely thinking through the consequences. _Shit! Why did I say that? Well, no going back now._ "I was taken off guard and shot him down. He seemed like a nice guy, but it was just so sudden. And I didn't know anything about him."

She seemingly took the bait, accepting that as what was troubling me. Her expression changed abruptly from 'worried mother' to 'girl talk time'. She walked fully into the room and sat down on the bed, facing me. And with a huge smile spreading across her face she asked: "Was he cute?"

"Mom."

"Or was he hot?"

"MOM!"

"Oh come one! Spill! I want to know what he was like."

"I told you, I shot him down. It doesn't matter what he was like; I will never even see him again."

"You never know Sugu. The world works in mysterious ways. You may bump into him again one of these days. Now spill, what was he like?"

I sighed, becoming exasperated at her line of questioning. _She is not going to leave me alone until I tell her. Oh well, no sense lying to her._ "Fine… He was too masculine to really be 'cute', so I'd have to say he was more handsome than anything." I explained intentionally avoiding the word hot. I stared at my mom while she squealed like a giddy school-girl and motioned for me to keep going. "He was competing at the kendo tournament and came up to me after it ended to compliment me. When he asked for my number he was really bashful, despite the fact that it didn't look like he'd be the type to get nervous." I stopped my explanation there, for both the fact that I wanted this conversation to end and that fact that I really didn't know anything else that I should add.

"I swear Sugu, if you ever see that boy again, give him your number. Just because you don't know him doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to get to know him. Give the boy a chance. From the sound of it, he had to work up a lot of courage to even be able to approach you, let alone ask for your number. I kinda feel bad for the boy." She stated, making me feel somewhat guilty. "Besides, you could use a good boyfriend." She finished with a smirk.

My face grew extremely heated. "MOM!" I screamed. "STOP!"

"Fine, fine. I'll leave you alone for now." She responded playfully through a huge grin. She pushed herself from the bed, making her way to the door. "If you ever want to talk about him, or anything like that, I'll be all ears." She said, closing the door behind her; once again leaving me to my thoughts. My _real_ thoughts.

My mind immediately got back on track, thinking deeply over the dilemma of someone stalking me. _Okay, I have to think about this rationally. If there is actually someone following me then I can't afford to make any mistakes._ I thought to myself, all the while squeezing my pillow closely to my chest. _There are four possibilities: The stalker is or is connected to Kikuoka; the stalker is or is connected to Shinkawa; the stalker is someone random; or, there is more than one stalker. I can't be sure that Shinkawa was at the hospital before I arrived. He could have followed me in and gone to Shino's room._ "Well, that didn't get me very far," I mumbled to myself. It only served to affirm that Shinkawa was still as equal a possibility as the others.

 _I need to be careful regardless. However, if it is Shinkawa, I need to be especially careful. There's no telling what he is capable of._ I thought, mentally preparing myself for dealing with this situation.

I eased myself onto my side, feeling the fatigue of the day catching up with me. I tried to keep my train of thought straight, but before long it had derailed, giving in to my physical and mental exhaustion. My eyes were drooping and my body was heavy. I let out a long yawn before finally passing out in my bed, falling into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

The sun was shining through the window, rousing me from my sleep. God how I wanted to sleep longer. I was both physically and mentally exhausted; even the just a few more minutes would have been wonderful. Just a few more minutes to recover my strength and mental fortitude. Unfortunately, that isn't the way things played out. The sun shone through the window brightly, which prevented me from drifting off to sleep again. Still, I refused to get up, so I laid there with my eyes closed, not moving at all and not wanting to admit to myself that I was awake. The sooner that I admitted to myself that I was awake, the sooner I would have to get out of bed and start performing routine activities.

Of course, that didn't last long. My mom opened the door and called out my name. "Sugu! Get up! I've got a surprise for you."

I groaned in response but began to sit up nonetheless. Finally opening my eyes, I was greeted with the site of my mom, fully dressed, standing in the doorway. I rubbed my eyes as if to make sure that I wasn't seeing things as well as to sensation that sleep had left on them.

"Come on! Get ready to leave!" She spurred.

"Huh…" I drawled out groggily.

"It's part of the surprise. Come on!"

"Okay, okay. At least let me get out of bed before you start harassing me."

"Oh please! If I did that you would never get out of bed and never see your surprise. So hurry up."

"Alright already," I respond, getting out of bed and walking toward the door. "I'll be ready in half an hour. Think you can wait that long?"

"Of course. I'll be waiting in the kitchen."

After a quick shower, a change of clothes and the usual hygiene routine I was walking down the stairs to the kitchen, where my mom said she'd be waiting. She was sitting at the kitchen table, finishing a cup of coffee when I finally walked into the kitchen. Across from her on the table sat a breakfast, which I could only assume was for me.

"Eat up. We can't leave on an empty stomach."

I ate as quickly as I could while still keeping a reasonable pace. While I wanted to know where we were going, I would rather do so without choking.

I finished the breakfast, placing the dishes in the sink. "You ready to go?" My mom asked.

"I mean yeah, but where in the world are we going?" I asked

"You'll see when we get there." She responded matter-of-factly. "That's why it's called a surprise Sugu."

* * *

We arrived at a large mall after a short drive. We got out of the car and my mom proclaimed excitedly, "Surprise! We're going shopping at only of the largest stores in all of Tokyo! We're gonna shop till we drop!"

I smiled, knowing that she was incredibly excited about the shopping spree. Truth be told, so was I. I just couldn't wrap my mind around a few parts. Why now? Why today? For what reason? Is today some kind of special occasion? Why would this be a surprise for me? Normally we plan this sort of thing together. It was just so hard for me to figure out. I eventually just settle on the conclusion, "because why not", as I was all but dragged toward to entrance to the shopping mall.

We shopped for hours, accumulating so many bags that it was becoming hard to carry them all. Eventually, we decided to stop for lunch in the food court, so we took our bags out to the car so that we wouldn't have to lug them around with us for the rest of the time that we were shopping, especially while we were eating. You would probably be surprised how many bags get stolen right from under your noses in the food court.

We got our food and found a table. "So, how has the surprise been so far?" My mom asked, starting up a conversation.

"It's been really fun!" I exclaimed enthusiastically. "Although, I just can't figure it out. Why today? And why a surprise?"

"Because why not today. And why not a surprise. It's more fun that way." She said, vocalizing what I had figured hours prior. Still, though, it seemed that there had to be an ulterior motive.

"You've got a point there." I agreed, laughing off my suspicions.

There wasn't too much more talking between the two of us while we finished our food. Only minor exchanges here and there. Most of which were small talk.

When we had finally finished, my mom spoke up. "Sugu, I need to use the restroom. Will you be okay waiting here for me to get back?" She asked.

"Of course," I said with a smile.

She started walking off in the direction of the nearest restroom, which was strangely situated a fair distance from the food court. As soon as she was out of site though, someone took the seat across from me. The seat that up unto a moment ago was occupied by my mother.

It seemed as though the person claiming the seat had come out of nowhere, which startled me in and of itself. This feeling of shock quickly turned to one of fright when I saw who it was. _Kikuoka._

"It's been a while, Ms Kirigaya. Fancy seeing you here." There was no chance that he hadn't seen my mom sitting here with me. He waited for her to leave and approached me then. This keeps getting better and better. "Let's catch up a little." he continued with a smile.

"Actually, I'm here with someone, and they should be back any moment now." I bluffed.

He continued to smile. "Oh, I think that we have plenty of time." _He called my bluff. Dang, it.  
_

My brain went into overdrive. _Okay, he's here, and he clearly isn't afraid of being seen with me. He can't do anything to me out in the open like this, so I'm safe at least. He waited for my mom to leave though. That's suspicious as all hell. This has to mean that he's the one who's been stalking me right?_

Taking a risk, I decided to voice my thoughts. "Fine, you want to catch up, let's start with this: Why have you been stalking me?"

His smile wavered for a moment. "You noticed that, huh? Well, I supposed I can tell you then. You see, we're not stalking you… per-say. We are, however, keeping you under surveillance."

"And why would I have to be kept under surveillance, exactly?" I inquired.

He looked as though he were debating something. "Suffice to say that you may be the key to solving a little issue that's sprung up for us recently."

"Oh no, you aren't getting off with just that. Why the hell are you stalking me?! I want an actual explanation. Not some lame excuse for one." I proclaimed, trying to keep my voice down while still conveying as much anger as I could.

"I'm sorry, I can't tell you the details right now. Just try to think of this as a kind of covert protective custody." He responded, refusing to fulfil my demand for an explanation.

"That isn't going to…"

"My turn." He interrupted. "I came here to 'catch up' and instead I answered some of your questions. So now you're going to answer the questions that I have for you."

"Fat chance. You didn't even answer the few questions that I had for you. You blew them off and answer them in as vague a way as possible so that you wouldn't have to give me any information. So I don't have to answer any of your questions." I responded defiantly.

The vibe he was giving off changed abruptly. All of the sudden, his presence gave off an ominous aura, making me more uncomfortable than had before. "I don't think you truly understand the situation you're in." He said. "You will answer my questions, and you will…"

"Suguha Kirigaya! Is that you!?" came a somewhat familiar voice, interrupting Kikuoka. It was a voice that I could not place, but know that I have heard. "You are the last person I expected to see around." Still couldn't place it. Whoever it was had walked up behind me, drawing Kikuoka attention and apparently confusing him.

I turned my head to see who it was, and my surprise mirrored his own. _Hiro Sonozaki_. Well, I never thought that I'd see him again, but by god, I am more relieved than I have been in a very, very long time.

"Who's this with you?" Hiro asked, looking at Kikuoka. I may be totally wrong, but something told me that Hiro knew that I was uncomfortable and that Kikuoka was by no means a friend of mine.

I didn't know how to respond to that though. I didn't want to tell the truth. Kikuoka was stalking me, meaning he had no problem bending or breaking the law. I didn't want to do anything that may make him overly angry. And I have a feeling calling attention to him being my stalker would make him _very_ angry. But I didn't want to say something that would make Hiro leave either. Him being around in this situation made me feel a lot safer, and a lot more confident in the fact that Kikuoka wouldn't do anything dangerous or threatening.

Before I could say anything though, Kikouka had stood up. "I'm an old friend or her family." He said with a smile. "And you are?"

"Hiro Sonozaki, sir" Hiro responded. _Alright, so maybe Hiro is clueless._

"Pleasure to meet you, Hiro."

"Likewise."

"Well, Suguha, It's been fun to catch up with you," he said, putting an extra sharp emphasis on the words 'catching up', almost being too obvious. "But I have an appointment in a short while and I really don't want to be late. You understand, right?"

"Of course," I said, trying to make it seem a casual as possible.

Kikuoka started walking away, and Hiro pulled up another chair to the table. He was being a whole lot more composed now that he was after the tournament, I'll give him that. _Wait a minute…_ my brain came to a screeching halt. _What if Hiro works for Kikuoka and this was all staged. What if that isn't even his real name…_ I was starting to get extremely worried. And paranoid. Very, very paranoid. Not only of Hiro but for everyone.

Hiro's next words though were so genuine and worried that I couldn't help but lay my worries to rest. "So I know he wasn't who he said he was. Who was he, really?" It wasn't a demanding request, not giving me an obligation to answer, but rather a worried enquiry, giving me an option to answer or not. I felt a weird sensation, one that I couldn't identify.

"He… He uh…" I tried desperately to articulate but fell on the same issue that I had earlier. _What could I possibly tell him that keeps him out of this mess_? The answer should be obvious. But for some reason, I really didn't want to lie to him

"He's… um…"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." He said, smiling.

"It's not that I don't want to so much as that I don't know how to tell you…"

"Then don't." He said, maintaining his smile.

"Thank you."

"Anytime."

"You know, I really was surprised when you showed up. What are the odds that we are both here, at the same time." I said, trying to change the conversation a bit. "Oh yeah, I guess I could ask why you're at a shopping mall?"

"Believe it or not, I'm here for shopping." After the words left his mouth his face grew a little red. "I don't mean that I'm doing the shopping of course. My mom dragged me along to pick some clothes for myself. Honestly, though, I think that she mostly wanted me to carry bags." He said with a laugh.

"Well, you sure look strong enough to carry a ton!" I said with a laugh. I stopped abruptly upon realising what I said though. My face grew hot and his face was a little flushed. We both tried to laugh it off. "So you're here with your mom too?"

"Yeah."

"Where is she? Isn't she gonna wonder where you are?"

"No. She is looking at underwear right now, and I absolutely refused to be any part of that, so she gave me free roam until she calls me." He explained. "What about your mom?"

"Restroom. Speaking of which, she's been gone for a really long time. I wonder what's taking so long?"

"There was probably a wait, I mean this mall is enormous." He supplied.

"Yeah. You're probably right."

We spent a bit more time talking like that, Kikuoka almost entirely forgotten. Before long though, my mom showed up again. "Sorry, it took so long. I got locked in the bathroom, believe it or not. " She stated while walking up to the table. "So who's your friend Sugu?" She asked smiling from ear to ear.

Hiro stood up and bowed to her. "My name is Hiro Sonozaki Ma'am. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, my. You have great manners. My name is Midori Kirigaya. A pleasure to meet you as well." My mom responded, returning the bow.

Hiro then turned back to me. "Suguha, it was great to see you again. I'll let you and your mother get back to your shopping." He said, turning to walk away.

"Wait!" I exclaimed a little too quickly, my face growing hot once again. "Let me see your phone really quick." He seemed confused but complied none-the-less. All the while my mom sat there seeming dumbfounded.

"There," I said. "Now you have my number. Maybe next time we won't be surprised to see one another."

He seemed shocked, embarrassed, nervous, and thankful all at once. "Yeah! That sounds great! Well thank you for the company today, I'll see ya later."

"Yeah. See ya later." I said with a smile, watching him walk away for real this time. He wasn't even out of view before I saw him get a call and answer his phone. _Looks like his mom finally called._ I thought with a small giggle.

There was a short moment of silence before my mom spoke up. "I'm willing to bet that that was the boy you told me about, isn't it?" She asked smugly. _Oh crap._ I thought. _I'm never gonna hear the end of this one._


End file.
